Implementing Public Platforms for Mobile Phone Content Services: Standardization in an Era of Convergence

Mobile Telecommunication standardization in Europe builds on a history formed by European and International standardization bodies, the governments as regulators and the R&D departments of PPT-owned telecommunication operators. This paper describes the standardization approach related to the implementation of the public CPA (Content Provider Access) platform and business model for provision of content services for mobile phones in Norway. CPA builds on complementary services and common incentives for mobile telecommunication operators and content providers to create an open, transparent and easy to access service platform through standardization, but is at the same time developed outside both the scope and the central control of standardization organizations and their standardization practices. The nature of this process can be attributed to processes of convergence. Applying an Information Infrastructure perspective, we discuss the standardization process as open, where the trajectory of development is determined by heterogeneous actors with different and possibly conflicting agendas, powers, needs and incentives. Our aims are both to identify and describe new approaches to standardization as well as new kinds of standards within telecommunications

Making Usable Generic Software. A Matter of Global or Local Design?

Usability is widely acknowledged as a desirable trait of software, referring to how usable it is to a specific set of users. However, when software is developed as generic packages, aimed at supporting variety, designing user interfaces with sufficient sensitivity to use-contexts is a challenge. Extant literature has documented this challenge and established that solving usability-related problems are difficult, both during software development and implementation. Adding to this discussion, this paper contributes by developing a framework to analyze what characterizes usability-related design of generic software. This includes two levels of design; generic-level and implementation-level, and two types of design; design for use and design for design. We apply this conceptual framework on an empirical case based on an ongoing action research project where a global generic health software is implemented in a large state in India. From the analysis we argue that attempts to strengthen usability of generic software require a holistic intervention, considering design on both ‘global’ and ‘local’ level. Of particular importance is how usable the generic software and other design-resources are when implementers are customizing the software. We coin this aspect of design as meta-usability, which represent what we see as an avenue for further research

An Integrated Health Management Information System a Missing block in achieving universal health coverage in Cameroon?

An integrated Health Management Information systems (HMIS) is said to be the panacea to achieving Universal Health Coverage. Low and Medium Income countries (LMICs) is often weak; fragmented, hence data collected cannot be used for decision-making. Using institutional logics, we examined the state of HMIS in Cameroon in relations to the characteristics of HMIS of UHC. Data collection was done through interviews conducted with officials of CNIS 1 -MoPH and UHC in Yaoundé, December 2015, January and July 2016. Document review and observations were used as secondary method of data collection. Multiple logics were identified that might increase risk of HMIS failure. We argue that though integrated HMIS is essential, it is a far-fetch reality to LMICs. HMIS for UHC being a fairly new area, the aim of this paper is to help stimulate more active discussions on this issues as debate on this could shed more light on the issue

Towards a Design Theory of Usability and Generativity

Generativity is introduced and argued as essential as well as interdependent with usability in technology design. Where usability is well rooted in the design discourse, generativity, or how easy independent innovators can leverage on technology as a platform to develop new services and applications, has had little attention. We enquire into how the elements of usability and generativity are interrelated, how they contradict and how they can be combined. The mobile phone in general, as well as the Mobile Internet and iPhone in particular is used to illustrate our argument. We discuss different configurations of mobile phones, such as open, flexible and generative devices actively inviting and supporting free innovation and sophisticatedly designed appliances offering high quality services and superior usability. As an outcome of our discussion, we describe four different design approaches and ways to combine generativity and usability, and the properties of each of them

Institutionalizing Information Systems for Universal Health Coverage in Primary Healthcare and the Need for New Forms of Institutional Work

Today, many countries around the world focus on ensuring that all people can access health services of sufficient quality without experiencing financial hardship (i.e., universal health coverage). To measure progress towards this goal, countries need to build robust health information systems. Because countries need to root universal health coverage in primary healthcare, they also needs to sensitively anchor health information systems that support universal health coverage in existing routine health information systems. However, doing so involves significant challenges, which we study via empirically analyzing an Indian state\u27s effort to implement a universal health coverage health information system in primary healthcare. Using a theoretical lens informed by institutional theory, we seek to answer the question: “What is required to develop institutions that support the use of new technologies and associated work processes that universal health coverage entails?”. We identify the contradictions that emerge when new systems clash with existing ones, and we discuss what implications such contradictions have in terms of system design, work processes, and institutions. We contribute to the literature by explaining inherent complexities in universal health coverage health information system design and implementation and providing system design guidelines

Component trustworthiness in an enterprise software platform ecosystem

Enterprise software packages are increasingly designed as ex-tendable software platforms. These platforms are characterised by modular architecture that allows third parties to innovate and create value through the development of complementary applications. The development process of complementary applications from scratch is resource-intensive. One way of optimising the development process is by using the component-based software engineering (CBSE) approach that focuses on software reuse and suggests building applications with reusable components. There is a considerable amount of literature on CBSE; however, there has been little discussion on how component-based software engineering can strengthen third-party application development in the context of an enterprise software platform ecosystem. Specifically, it is unclear how the challenge of component trustworthiness can be addressed in this context. To explore this, we conducted a design science research(DSR) study to answer the following question: What are design principles pertaining to component trustworthiness for implementing a component repository that facilitates component reuse in an enterprise software platform ecosystem? In our study, we have explored the potential for component reuse in the ecosystem of the global health software platform DHIS2 by designing and developing a prototype component repository. Duringthe design and development process, two design principles were identi-fied: Principle of component trustworthiness and Principle of balanced certification. These principles are to guide researchers and practitioners on how a component repository can be implemented in the context of an enterprise software platform ecosystem

Cloud Computing as a Catalyst for Integrated Health Information Systems in Developing Countries

Cloud Computing is increasingly becoming important in the generation, storage and transmission of information worldwide. In this paper, we discuss the potential of Cloud Computing in terms of how it can strengthen health information systems in developing countries. Like any new technology, Cloud Computing is no silver bullet; it solves certain challenges while bringing new ones to the table. Based on a case study of the innovative use of Cloud Computing for the national health information system in Kenya, we discuss how Cloud Computing can enable the integration and harmonization of fragmented systems and provide real-time information to health managers for evidence based decision making. The key contribution of the paper is to provide an understanding of how Cloud Computing can enhance health management by acting as a catalyst for the integration of health information systems

In the northern periphery of Russia abroad. The Norwegian destiny of Anatol Ye. Heintz (1898–1975), palaeontologist and native of St Petersburg

This article provides an exposé of the life and work of Anatoliy Yevgenyevich Geynts, in Norway known as Anatol Heintz. Heintz was born and raised in St Petersburg, became a Russian refugee after the revolutionary events in Russia in 1917–1918, and ended up in Norway with his family. Later Heintz became renowned in the world of science as a Professor, Academician, and one of the founding fathers of Norwegian palaeontology, as well as a wellknown promoter of scientific knowledge among the common people in Norway. At the same time, he was an active participant in and organizer of scientific expeditions to Spitsbergen (Svalbard) in search of fish fossils, but he also became one of the pioneers in the protection of wild animals and establishment of natural parks on this Arctic archipelago. Heintz’s life is examined against the background of social and cultural processes that Russian emigrants faced in this so-called “first wave” of emigration in the twentieth century, processes of socio-cultural adaptation and integration into their new country of residence. The conditions for finding oneself and ways of preserving one’s Russianness in the large colonies of the Russian diaspora, which appeared in Berlin, Prague, and Paris, are compared with the conditions in the northern periphery of Europe and a small country like Norway. The paper focuses on what Anatol Heintz did to preserve his Russian identity, and how he simultaneously struggled to become fully recognized as a Norwegian citizen

Grafting: Balancing Control and Cultivation in Information Infrastructure Innovation

This paper proposes grafting as a new perspective on information infrastructure (II) innovation. We introduce the organic notion of grafting to help explore innovation processes in settings where control is distributed and episodic. Our case study follows the implementation of mobile phone-based reporting of routine data from sub-district health facilities in Malawi. Initial grafting work entails the careful alignment of available resources, capacities, and interests through the proposition of an information system (IS) innovation (e.g., mobile phone-based reporting). The nurturing of the implementation involves collaborative efforts spanning technological, professional, geographical, and organizational boundaries. This work is taken forward by the identification of opportunities for merging an innovation with existing socio-technical arrangements (e.g., health management information systems in Malawi) in such a way that the parts continue to grow