Research forum?

Hi all,

at the recent DAC there was a session where we discussed how we as a community can collaborate more regarding research. The slides from that session are available from here: Academic Paper Writing Discussion/workshop (dryfta.com)

There is a lot of interesting research (published and unpublished) going on around DHIS2. Research using data from DHIS2, research on DHIS2 implementation approaches, use cases, research on solving long-standing challenges as improved information use, etc. A range of different methods are used, and we speak to different audiences; global health, ehealth, information systems, international development, and more. The idea discussed at DAC is to see if we can build some structures around these topics to help us communicate, collaborate, and share experiences.

Research collaboration can be many things, not necessarily only joint research and publications. We discussed for instance ways to share findings, relevant research, discuss research ideas and knowledge gaps, relevant outlets, or arrange webinars on topics or for instance research methods. This is up to us as a community to decide.

To start the process I invite you to share your thoughts on this here. What research are you doing? What topics are of interest? What would you like to discuss with the community? How can we best increase the visibility of all the learning coming out of the community? How can we support a DHIS2 research forum/community?

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At the University of Oslo we do a wide range of research on health information systems, typically from an information systems perspective (i.e. with a focus on the interplay between technology and organization, complexities of design, implementation, and use, etc). We post our publications here:

Research Library - Department of Informatics (uio.no)

There you can find links and usually full documents of all Master and PhD theses, journal and conference publications, and books. Most of this is related to HISP and DHIS2.

We primarily apply qualitative research methods, often in conjunction with actually engaging in implementations of DHIS2 in countries. Our research spans from the practically oriented, to higher level abstractions and theorization. Some examples are listed below:

Routine use of DHIS2 data: a scoping review

Design Theory for Societal Digital Transformation: The case of digital global health

Introducing online training for health staff: An institutional perspective

A critical review of the role of technology and context in digital health research

Assessing User-Designed Dashboards: A Case for Developing Data Visualization Competency

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Another example of what we at University of Oslo do research on is the recent paper in the Information Systems Journal: Governing digital platform ecosystems for social options

The paper is open access for everyone.

Our research is looking at how we, over time, adjust technology, how we relate to actors in HISP, and how we strive to build capacity of the ecosystem around DHIS2 for it to be used for public value creation. Most importantly, how do we promote activities that are beneficial for the community, and not only individual actors? The perspective here is from the University of Oslo side, so we would love to hear how this resonates with other perspectives too.

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