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WG 9.4: Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries
13th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries
Track 9: Health Information System Architectures
Chairs: Johan Sæbø, University of Oslo, Norway
Ghislain B. Kouematchoua Tchuitcheu, Georg-August-Universität, Germany
As information systems are increasingly recognized as consisting of many interconnected parts and sub-systems, there is a need
for an overall system design, or architecture. In the health sector, this is especially important in relation to offering integrated health
care to the patient, and the population at large, based on information from a diverse set of specialist domains. Leading health policy
organizations have called for the integration of information systems, yet this remains challenging in a complex environment such as
health. Strategies for IS architecting is high in demand globally.
But this need for sound architecting principles for information system also suffers from a lack of understanding the phenomena,
reflected in the IS literature. A common definition of IS architecture is lacking, and it has been argued that the concept is usefully
ambiguous. Furthermore, architecture as a concept has been applied to either software or IT infrastructure, on the one hand, or to
more organizational aspects on the other hand. Seldom has the technological and social been treated together, and where it has
it has been limited in depth.
With this background, this track aims to explore issues around health and information systems architectures. Both to contribute to our
theoretical understanding of this area, but also because of the many pressing challenges in providing the right health information, to
the right people, at the right time. For instance, how would countries organize their various health-related IS, from electronic patient
records to blood bank registers, from payroll systems to logistics management systems? What strategies should be followed to achieve
this? How do various manifestations of openness promote or restrict the coming together of more integrated architectures?
The track is open for a wide range of topics, loosely related to IS architectures and health information systems. This can include IS
integration and interoperability; actors involved in IS acquisition and development; strategies of architecting; types of IS architectures;
architectures and openness; open standards; scaling up health IS; and the like.
For more information, please contact johansa[at]ifi.uio.no.
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Track 9: Health Information System Architectures
