Building the Future of EPCON

One Conversation, One Idea, and One Pizza at a Time

Last month, we gathered in Knysna for our annual offsite: a few days dedicated to something we rarely have enough time for in our day-to-day project work: thinking, learning, challenging ourselves, and building the future together.

As a company working from 2 locations, but across more than 40 countries in multiple disease areas, it is easy to become absorbed by deadlines, partner meetings, data pipelines, and project milestones. The offsite gave us the opportunity to step away from our screens and focus on what comes next.

Looking Back to Move Forward

We kicked off the week with a strategic session, reflecting on where EPCON has come from and where we want to go.

The discussion covered:

• Our long-term vision for disease intelligence and predictive public health.

• The evolution of the Epi-control platform.

• Ideas originating from on ongoing projects across TB, HIV, malaria, pandemic preparedness, and non-communicable diseases.

• Opportunities to scale our impact through innovation.

These conversations helped align everyone around a shared objective: strengthening health systems through the power of data and AI.

Learning From Each Other

One of the most valuable parts of the offsite were the knowledge-sharing sessions. Across several presentations, colleagues shared expertise from their own domains, including:

• Calibration methods and advances in AI modelling.

• Potential strategic directions in the area of immunisation programs.

• Internal tools and automation projects developed by the team.

• Experiences from country implementations across Africa and Asia.

• New applications of reinforced learning.

One of our greatest strengths is the diversity of expertise within the team. Bringing data scientists, epidemiologists, project managers, and software developers together in the same room creates discussions that simply cannot happen over Teams calls.

Spotlight on Innovation

Innovation remains one of our core values. Dedicated innovation sessions allowed team members to present and discuss ongoing innovations, including:

• Improved temporal modelling approaches.

• Novel validation methodologies.

• Opportunities for integrating generative AI into our Epi-control platform.

  
  

Learning From the Field

Country presentations provided a valuable reminder that behind every model and dashboard are real health programmes and real people. Highlights included presentations on:

• HIV programming in Nigeria.

• Tuberculosis and HIV initiatives in South Africa.

• Preventive treatment and treatment outcome predictions in Kenya.

Co-Creating the Future

Another major focus was improving how we work together.

Break-out sessions explored questions such as:

• How can project managers provide feedback that is easier to translate into product improvements?

• How can we better prioritise platform enhancements?

• How do we maintain visibility on issues and improvements across multiple projects and countries?

Beyond Work: Walking, Boating and Building Connections

An offsite is not only about work.

We spent time exploring the local surroundings, taking walking tours (in the rain), enjoying a boat trip, cooking, and simply spending time together outside of work. For a distributed team, these moments matter. Trust is built as much during a walk or over dinner as it is during a meeting.

When Nature Changes the Plan

No offsite would be complete without an unexpected twist. Towards the end of the week, severe flooding hit the region. Our travel plans suddenly became uncertain, we found ourselves without electricity, internet access, and even mobile connectivity. What could have been a frustrating situation quickly became one of the most memorable parts of the week.

With no Wi-Fi, we improvised. Our CTO became chief pizzaiolo, preparing pizzas in a wood-fired stone oven. We stocked up on candles, transformed the house into a cosy retreat, and spent the evening playing games, talking, laughing, and sharing stories.

In a world where we are constantly connected, there was something surprisingly refreshing about being temporarily disconnected. The floodwaters eventually forced us to cut the offsite short and head home earlier than planned. While the journey back required some flexibility and careful planning, we were relieved that everyone returned safely.

What We Take Home

An offsite is never really about the presentations, the workshops, or even the location.

It is about creating the space to think together and think differently.

This year's gathering reminded us why EPCON exists: to solve public health challenges through innovation, collaboration, and curiosity. We returned home with new ideas, stronger relationships, clearer priorities, and a renewed sense of purpose.

And perhaps a few new pizza-making skills as well.

Thank you to everyone who contributed, presented, facilitated discussions, and helped make the week memorable. We are already looking forward to the next one. 🚀

Together, we continue building the future of disease intelligence.