Leapfrogging for Modern ICT Usage in the Health Care Sector

Health Care has traditionally been dominated by a strong professional culture, to which information and communications technology has not maybe fitted in the optimal way. Currently, however, strong currents are changing the intellectual climate in the field. Modern information and communications technology is being taken into usage in the Health Care sector at an increasing pace. This article provides and overview of the activities related to modern information and communications technology in the Health Care Sector. Our research questions are: 1. Which reasons led to the late adoption of modern ICT in the Health Care sector? 2. Why is the situation now changing fast? 3. Which seem to be the main application areas? 4. Which kind of progress we can now see? To each of the research questions, we allocate one chapter in our paper. This article is conceptual in nature, but argumentation is supported by concrete examples. The main conclusions are that • Starting from “scratch” has made a fast development in the field possible as it comes to modern ICT • Developments have been very fast: on the other hand demand for information and ICT has too grown enormously • ICT has been a total change agent for the industry, and a needed one • Fast introduction of modern ICT has been made possible through the simultaneous introduction of many modern management techniques such as quality assurance • Internet was and is the “killer platform” in this industry too • The whole sector has turned from a handicraft industry to knowledge industr

Information and communication Technology and Poverty: An Asian Perspective

The emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), in particular the Internet, has generated new enthusiasms about the development prospects for poor economies. Many now think that new technologies can provide a faster route to better livelihoods and improved quality of life than the one afforded by the standard process of industrialization. The opposing view holds that the focus on ICTs will detract attention from the more fundamental task of addressing the basic problems of economic developmentICT; poverty; growth

The state of green technologies in South Africa

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Portugal: Leapfrogging Digital Transformation

This report is structured as follow: Section 1 presents details about Portugal enabling or inhibiting its digital transformation. Section 2 analyzes the main motivations for the digital transformation strategy; Section 3 summarizes its main challenges, while Section 4 presents the main components of the strategy. Section 5 analyzes the governance model, and Section 6, the legal and regulatory framework. Section 7 discusses critical enablers for the digital transformation of government services. Section 8 introduces 16 key initiatives of the strategy. Section 9 summarizes the lessons learnt, followed by an assessment of the strategy’s impact in Section 10. Section 11 synthesizes lessons for Latin American countries. Finally, Appendix A enumerates main legal and regulatory instruments supporting the digital transformation in Portugal, Appendix B presents a set of 18 sections providing details of the initiatives analyzed in the report1, and Appendix C explains how the digital transformation efforts contributed to face the challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemics.Fil: Estevez, Elsa Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Fillottrani, Pablo. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Linares, Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Economía. Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Cledou, Maria Guillermina. Universidade do Minho; Portuga

Preparedness for e-health in developing countries: the case of Ghana

As Ghana embarks on a national e-Health initiative there is the need to explore its preparedness in terms of socioeconomic and development, technology infrastructure and operational preparedness, and skills and human resources. This paper reports on a literature review as part of a research program, which aims to inform the development of an effective roadmap for the successful implementation of the national e-Health initiative in Ghana. The literature was searched for factors of e-Health adoption in developing countries; and realization of the anticipated benefits through IEEE, Medline, Google scholar and Google search engines. Sixteen (16) articles were reviewed were from 176 related articles that were found. The literature review found the two highest priority objectives in in e-Health Africa: providing health education for health professionals (identified in 7 of the 16 projects reported on in the literature) and improvement of primary health care services 9 of the 16 projects). Six (6) or 39% each of the 16 projects reported a lack of skills and Human Resources Socioeconomic issues, and Technology infrastructure problems reported in 22% or the remaining four (4) projects. The paper concluded that the effects of these challenges could lead to Ghana like many other developing countries struggling to adopt e-Health, its inability to realize the potential benefits of e-Health and its ability to institutionalize and sustain e-Health

An examination of the relationships between the transfer of information and communications technologies and capacity building towards sustainable development of small and medium enterprises : a focus on Rwanda and Tanzania

In the modern era, it is widely acknowledged that information and communication technologies have become foundational to every aspect of human endeavor and well-being. The policies of private and public sector organizations, and more so of governments of sovereign states, emphasize the deployment and utilization of information and communication technologies in virtually all forms of business activities. Comparatively, there is consensus that economic and social development of countries can be highly dependent on small and medium enterprises. A broader question arises as to how information and communication technologies can be combined with small and medium enterprises to accelerate sustainable development, especially in nations classified as least developing countries. This research provides some empirical evidence on the extent of the triangular correlation between the transfer of information and communication technologies, capacity building of small and medium enterprises for sustainable development in the least developed country context. The study provides useful insights for policy making with regards to leveraging small and medium enterprises plus information and communication technologies towards stimulating and accelerating sustainable development of least developed countries.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016.Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM)PhDUnrestricte

Innovative Asia: Advancing the Knowledge-Based Economy - The Next Policy Agenda

[Excerpt] This study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) seeks to analyze the ways in which Asia’s middle- and low-income countries can tap knowledge-based economic development to maintain and strengthen the growth momentum and to move up global value chains. The ADB study uses the Knowledge Economy Index (KEI) rubric to benchmark the performance of developing economies in Asia against advanced economies of the world. It is clear that on all the four pillars of the knowledge economy—innovation, education and skills, ICT, and the economic incentive and institutional regime—developing economies in Asia significantly lag behind advanced nations. Policy makers in developing Asia need ensure appropriate investments and conducive policies across all the four pillars. The report traces the journey of the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Finland as KBEs and the lessons developing economies can derive. However, going beyond this, the report also highlights a number of special advantages that Asia can effectively tap that will help them leapfrog to the knowledge frontier. The relative lack of legacy infrastructure in developing economies, particularly in information communication technology, could enable developing economies to leapfrog over certain technology cycles and access the latest technologies, such as moving to cloud computing solutions. Asia needs to effectively combine established wisdom from the experience of developed economies with contemporary knowledge and options that new technologies bring to strengthen KBE processes. An important dimension for developing economies in Asia to consider, given the rising inequality in the region, is making KBE processes inclusive. This report explores a number of opportunities in this direction