BackIn today’s rapidly changing world, solving complex societal challenges requires not just incremental improvements but exponential change – solutions that don’t just add value linearly but create a multiplier effect, rapidly accelerating progress across sectors. For organisations like Project ECHO, thinking exponentially means designing models that can scale not just within their original field but across multiple domains, enabling others to adapt, innovate, and push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Project ECHO’s journey started in healthcare, and its thinking has always been exponential. From the outset, the goal was not just to connect rural healthcare providers with experts but to build a system that could continuously evolve – leveraging technology to spread knowledge faster, predict health trends, and prevent crises before they occur. This mindset has enabled Project ECHO to become a catalyst of impact at scale in healthcare, where real-time knowledge dissemination and predictive insights are transforming how medical care is delivered.
Project ECHO Journey
The ECHO model began in healthcare intending to democratise access to medical expertise, particularly in underserved areas. Using the iECHO platform, Project ECHO connects rural healthcare providers with specialists, enabling rapid knowledge dissemination and better health outcomes. In India, for example, 100% of medical practitioners are now registered on the platform, which has led to significant improvements in the timely detection and treatment of diseases like tuberculosis. This represents an exponential leap in the healthcare system, where the platform’s reach and impact increase with every new user.
But Project Echo’s vision for exponential change extends beyond solving healthcare challenges. Their approach focuses on building a system that fosters continuous innovation. As more healthcare practitioners engage with the iEcho platform, their insights are fed back into the system, enabling faster detection and treatment, such as in the case of tuberculosis.
Project Echo’s next step is to accelerate knowledge dissemination through AI and real-time data analytics, not only addressing current health issues but also predicting and preventing crises. By integrating AI, the iEcho platform can capture and share insights across sectors in real-time, enabling organisations to move knowledge faster and respond proactively to emerging challenges. With each iteration, the platform becomes more scalable, globally.
Reassembling the ECHO Model in other Sectors
INREM Foundation adopted the ECHO model to address water quality issues in India. INREM uses the ECHO model to scale their efforts by creating a robust knowledge-sharing platform. INREM amplified their capacity to train local communities, deploy water quality monitoring systems, and raise awareness about water contamination. By leveraging the iECHO platform, INREM was able to cross-leverage resources and expertise, allowing them to scale their interventions at a much lower cost than building their own systems from scratch.
Similarly, the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Assam, India will be deploying the ECHO model to continuously train ‘Jal Doots’ – community ambassadors responsible for monitoring water quality and promoting water conservation as well as their Water User Groups at the Village level. The program will be delivered in collaboration with organisations like INREM, and Water for People using the ECHO model to train students and equip them with field test kits, allowing them to assess the quality of piped water across thousands of households.
Agriculture & Livelihoods: FES, Grameen Foundation, Aga Khan Foundation and PRADAN.
- In the field of agriculture, the ECHO model of guided mentoring has been used by the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) in Odisha, India to build the capacities of the women Krishi Mitras, who facilitated the adoption of Sustainable Agriculture Practices by the farmers.
- Moreover, Grameen Foundation is deploying the ECHO model for building the capacities of women entrepreneurs to leverage the e-commerce platforms for marketing their products thereby leveraging larger markets for better returns.
Project ECHO is also exploring potential use cases with some of the organisations like:
- Aga Khan Foundation to improve livestock health and productivity through scaling their women entrepreneurship model in Goat Rearing in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The ECHO model can help scale the capacity building of the “Pashu Sakhis,” from marginalised communities, on topics such as disease identification, preventive care, and castration.
- Pradan, to deploy the ECHO model to enhance the capacity building of Aajeevika Krishak Mitras (AKMs), who support small farmers in improving crop production and income generation, in the Indian states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.
Education: ShikshaLokam and ECHO model in teacher training
- In the education sector, ShikshaLokam has collaborated with ECHO to improve the quality of teacher training. The iECHO platform has been instrumental in building the capacity of schoolteachers, educating them on vaccinations, young girls’ health, and other essential issues. ShikshaLokam uses the ECHO model to conduct large training sessions for teachers, allowing them to access crucial resources and knowledge asynchronously.
Other examples of the ECHO model and the iECHO platform being used:
- The police department in the US. has utilised the ECHO model to train officers in recognising the severity of threats and taking appropriate action. This training, delivered through the ECHO model, has enhanced their response capabilities by providing access to critical knowledge and expertise.
- MSSRF (M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation) has used the ECHO model to use the years of research in agriculture, to train farmers to identify potential diseases and bring research-based solutions directly to those on the ground.
Project ECHO’s combination of human connection and AI-powered insights is expected to accelerate its mission of touching 1 billion lives, making the process much faster and more efficient. The journey with Societal Thinking has been pivotal in catalysing interactions that amplify Project ECHO’s impact, co-creating environments, and building expert cohorts that develop contextual solutions.
By toppling the first domino in healthcare, Project Echo has created a positive ripple effect – demonstrating that scalable, real-time knowledge-sharing systems can drive exponential change not only in healthcare but across sectors like education, agriculture, and public safety. As more organisations reimagine and expand on Echo’s platform, the collective potential for change grows. Project ECHO has laid the foundation for a future where knowledge moves faster, problems are solved with speed, and challenges are tackled at scale and sustainably.
As you reflect on your own experiences, where do you see the ECHO model making a difference in your community or field? What unique challenges do you believe it could help solve? Share your insights with us at info@societalthinking.org.
With inputs from Dr.Sunil Anand, Managing Director, Sanjay Joshie, Head Climate Change Agriculture and Livelihoods, ECHO India, Dr Sanjeev Arora, Founder and Director and Kartik Dhar, CTO, Project ECHO
