Department of Computer Science and Engineering

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Browsing Department of Computer Science and Engineering by Subject "Action Research"

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    Critical issues associated with adoption and use of open source software in public sector: Insights from Tanzania
    (2006) Lungo, Juma H.
    Two Open Source Software (OSS) projects in Tanzania are discussed as exemplar efforts for the adaptation and use of OSS in public sector. The projects investigated in this Action Research Study were from the Health and Education Sectors. The two projects are of important in that, they use two different approaches of embracing OSS where the Health Sector project uses an approach of getting existing and working open source software framework and customizes it with the help of contributors from Open Source Community, while the Education Sector project developed software from scratch under the auspice of OSS development approach. A comparative analysis of the two projects with the terms of the Open Source Software definition indicates that the two developed software did not take into consideration of all OSS terms. The study concludes that the deviation from the terms of OSS definition reflect incompatibility between free software and open source software philosophies which results into difficulties to comply with one of them. As a result the focus is to achieve the freedom to use the software for any purpose and for any number of computers and the freedom to maintain the software without depending on the author of the software.
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    Designing and Implementing Hospital Management Information Systems in Developing Countries: Case Studies from Tanzania – Zanzibar
    (2007) Igira, Faraja T; Titlestad, Ola H.; Lungo, Juma H.; Makungu, Asha; Khamis, Maryam M; Sheikh, Yahya; Mahundi, Masoud; Ngeni, Mwana J; Suleiman, Omar; Braa, Jørn
    Research and development projects have shown the need for strengthening hospital management information systems (HMIS) [1][2], but this has proven a difficult task, especially in developing countries [3][4][5]. The hospitals in Zanzibar have experienced problems in collecting and managing health care data due to fragmented structures and lack of standardisation. This paper analyses an on-going participatory design effort involving computer experts, health workers and hospital mangers in joint development of an integrated health information system the hospitals in Zanzibar. The challenges encountered during the process were related to the negotiation of standardised data collection, the busy schedule of health workers hampering a participatory process, the low level of computer knowledge among the health workers, the difficulties of getting correct data from the lower level’s register books, and the continuous process of establishing a culture of information use. Key lessons learned from this case study are the need to provide sufficient time to implement HIS in this context due to the difficulty of health workers and mangers to understand the logics of a computerised information system, which is needed to take full advantage of the technology. A long-term mutual training process where technical and medical/managerial personnel work together on improving information use is proposed to overcome this challenge.
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    Implementation of ICTs in Health and Management Information System for Zanzibar
    (2007) Lungo, Juma H.; Sheikh, Yahya; Igira, Faraja; Braa, Jørn; Titlestad, Ola; Mahundi, Masoud; Abubakar, Bakar; Twaakyondo, Hashim M.; Suleiman, Omar
    In November 2004, the Ministry of Health in Zanzibar and itsstakeholders conducted a HMIS review. The results revealed that the HMIS isfragmented and does notsupport datadriven decision-making. To address theseshortcomings, a roadmap towards development of HMIS was agreed as follows: (1)development of essential datasets, (2) developing and implementing a computer database. The decision was to take theDistrict Health Information Software (DHIS)developed by the Health Information System Programme(HISP) and customise it tofit the context in Zanzibar. HISP is a global project using Action research andParticipatory design approaches to empower the emerging local health managementstructures and health workers through improved and locally based information systems in a number of developingcountries. At the time of writing this paper there is essential datasets and an implemented computer database usedfor data storage, analysis and reporting
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    Strategies for Development and Integration of Health Information Systems: Coping With Historicity and Heterogeneity
    (2005) Aanestad, Margunn; Monteir, Eric; Kimaro, Honest C.; Macombe, Esselina; Macueve, Gertrudes; Mukama, Faraja; Muquingue, Humberto; Nhampossa, Jose Leopoldo; Lungo, Juma
    Health is crucial for development, and well-working health information systems are required for sound decision making and effective use of resources. However, establishing working information systems in developing countries is truly a challenge. Moreover, strategies for the development and integration of large and growing collections of information systems escape simplistic recipes. This is a pressing practical problem globally, as well as analytically under-researched within the IS field. We aim to contribute to the understanding and development of such strategies by underscoring two core dilemmas: (i) the conservative influence of historically accumulated and institutionalized practices, technologies and perceptions (dubbed the ‘historicity’ of information systems) and (ii) the lacking integration and increasing fragmentation across the collection of information systems (dubbed the ‘heterogeneity’ of information systems). The empirical underpinning for our analysis is an action research project, the Health Information Systems Program (HISP), which aims at improving existing suboptimal health information systems in developing countries. HISP provides a particularly poignant illustration of the challenges related to historicity and heterogeneity of information systems as these are implied in the politico-historical context. Our empirical material is a cross-national comparative analysis of the current reporting systems for administrative health data in Mozambique, Tanzania and in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Several problems are associated with the existing systems and the need to change or replace them is recognized. For example, due to the donor- and aid-dependent economies of most developing countries, there are often other specialized health care programs e.g. targeted towards specific diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. These programs usually have their own reporting systems, and the result emerging over time is a disintegrated and heterogeneous collection of systems. The challenges associated with attempting to change such large-scale, heterogeneous and fragmented systems involve complex dilemmas. As the current information systems are embedded and institutionalized nationwide, a realistic strategy need to take a phased approach whereby present systems are gradually integrated into the environment. In the case of donor-supported and -managed program, the national health authorities may not even have the required power to intervene. Thus the existing reality cannot be ignored or done away with, whether it be the information systems, the institutions or the work practices; they constitute the point of departure. Analytically, we draw on recent socio-technical conceptualizations of large, integrated systems - so-called information infrastructures - especially through recent elaborations in the theoretical foundation in actor-network theory (ANT). The development strategy we suggest emphasizes an evolutionary, ‘cultivating’ approach while at the same time accepting that there will be a certain level of non-integration (often perceived of as ‘mess’) as chronic.