Design and development of a global reporting solution for DHIS : Performing action research in Vietnam

Abstract

This thesis is based on my participation in the Health Information System Programme (HISP). HISP is an action research project, and is working on development of an open source health information system (DHIS-2), as well as implementing a district-based health information system in Vietnam. The development of DHIS-2 is a collaboration project between HISP nodes in Norway, Vietnam and India.

The empirical work in this thesis was conducted in Vietnam using action research methods, while working on implementation of the health information system. I was also working in a global software development team during my field work in Vietnam,to develop a global reporting solution for DHIS-2 which should be able to adapt to local needs of the various developing countries. I discuss my findings from global software development, and experiences from implementation of health information systems in relation to relevant literature. Through my discussions I address problems due to cultural differences in global software development, approaches to system development and a global reporting solution. I argue that user participation when developing systems in the field of IS can give sustainable to the system, and suggests that cultural differences in global software development can increase the chances of an unsuccessful project. Further, I point out the problems with developing a global reporting solution using students and global software development.