EMPHNET represented the EMR’s networking needs and capacities at a steering committee meeting held for TEPHINET’s networking platform TEPHIConnect, earlier this month. During this meeting, steering committee members received an update on TEPHIConnect’s performance and progress since its launch last year. Held between December 3 and 4 2018, at the Task Force for Global Health in Atlanta, the meeting also offered a space for TEPHIConnect's Project Manager to share with committee members his two-year strategy regarding the platform’s growth and enhancement.

Launched in August 2017, TEPHIConnect serves as TEPHINET's online and mobile networking platform created exclusively for Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) alumni. It offers an online resource for the FETP alumni community and is created to build and strengthen global health capacity by providing opportunities for networking, continuing education, and mentoring. Furthermore, the network is designed to facilitate and maintain a global field epidemiology network set to provide health systems and organizations with rapid access to competent public health professionals.

Within this outlook, the network’s strategy for the coming two years focuses on enhancing platform features so that TEPHIConnect becomes the tool for increasing engagement with partners, improving alumni engagement, introducing opportunities for continuing education for FETPs, and improving the platform's capacity for emergency response. Each one of these items was presented and discussed in detail.

This meeting was attended by members of the steering committee, involved team members from TEPHINET, and representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Platform (GOARN).

As part of the meeting’s proceedings, EMPHNET's representative on the committee gave a presentation highlighting the online presence of regional networks while also focusing on the capacities of the EMR’s networking platform EpiShares, which is powered by GHD/EMPHNET. This presentation was followed by a discussion on ways in which TEPHINET can collaborate with regional networks through networking platforms like TEPHIConnect, EpiShares, the European Alumni Network (EAN), GOARN, and others.

Other issues discussed during this two-day meeting included the possibility of setting up procedures for mobilizing resources in cases of emergencies, with a focus on how these procedures involve regional networks. The possibility of integrating online education platforms with TEPHIConnect, was another key issue discussed during this meeting’s proceedings. Discussions closed with an outline and list of actions to be taken in the months to follow regarding these areas.

The two-day meeting concluded with extending the current committee members' presence on the committee for another year, with the next review meeting set for late 2019.