BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Local IT company Nextacloud Technologies has launched a new mobile app to make it easier to manage blood donations, addressing the root cause of blood shortages in Brunei.
The Bloodkad app allows donors to schedule appointments, track their blood donations and personal health, as well as conduct pre-donation screenings.
Nextacloud Technologies CEO Agus Muslim said more features will be rolled out soon, such as the Blood Donor Community and special rewards for regular donors.
The app is the second iteration of Nextacloud’s First Blood app, which was adapted into a web-based platform in 2017 to make it more accessible to the general public.
“We are trying to promote the features of this mobile app so that… the [Bloodkad] website will just be a landing page,” said Hakim Yakob, Nextacloud’s chief marketing officer.
“We are trying to build a blood donation ecosystem so it becomes more sustainable. That’s why we’re bringing in a lot of our stakeholders and they will be part of the community to push people to donate more.”
Bloodkad has been used at RIPAS Hospital’s Blood Donation Centre for over three years, and has grown from 600 users in 2017 to 3,300 users in 2020.
Some 5,100 blood donation appointments have been made via the Bloodkad platform since it launched in 2017.
“The app is not just for blood donors, but also for those who are willing and able to do blood donation events,” Hakim added.
At the moment, the Bloodkad app limits blood drives to Brunei-Muara only, unless the events are arranged directly by RIPAS Hospital.
The launch event also marked the start of Bloodkad’s three-month blood drive that will end on December 24.
Jerudong Park Medical Centre is also expected to start utilising the Bloodkad app for its blood donation centre later this year.
This article was updated on September 30, 2020 at 6.34am.