This article presents results from a study on the use and appropriation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in Mozambique with a focus on the health sector. The three provinces of Gaza, Inhambane and Niassa were surveyed and two questionnaires addressing 1) computer users and their ability to manage ICT, and 2) health workers and their handling of health information, were used. Based on this study appropriate strategies for developing an ICT‐infrastructure with the needs of the health sector as points of departure are discussed. The study is born out of a program to strengthen and further develop the health information and management systems at district and provincial levels as part of a process to support decentralisation of the health system in Mozambique. The study shows that computers and Internet are rapidly being spread to the provincial capitals and major districts in Mozambique. A main problem identified is the lack of ICT‐skills and education and poorly developed infrastructure and networks of support. There are very few formal ICT companies providing hardware, and even less, software support. Maintenance and learning about ICT are to a large extent going on within informal networks of computer users in the provinces.
A main finding in this study is that development of ICT capacity and information systems at district and provincial levels in Mozambique needs to be an integrated effort across sectors. A district health information system cannot be developed in a void.
A general recommendation is to develop educational programmes ranging from training of ICT entrepreneurs and health workers and managers, to Masters and PhD programmes in ICT and health information systems. A specific recommendation related to health information systems development is to focus on the district level and to develop a strategy which encompasses and integrates all districts, both the advanced districts with computers and the majority of the districts where there are no computers.
Information systems are widely acknowledged to be of central importance in contemporary organizations. The transfer of information systems designed for other places that are different from the implementation context has been part of the global-local debate. In this article, it is argued that the local context should be considered in the implementation of such information systems (IS) and that local stakeholders should be involved in the entire process. This article attempts to explore the issue of interaction between the social and technical sides of the IS. I use actor network theory (ANT) to analyze and to understand how an invoice information system, called Galatee, designed by an international team and implemented in the Mozambican Electricity Company (EDM) has been adopted in practice. C 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Infonnation systems are widely acknowledged to be of central importance in contemporary organizations. The transfer of infonnation systems designed for other places that are different from the implementation context, has been part of the global-local debate. In this paper it is argued that the local context should be considered in the implementation of such IS and that local stakeholders should be involved in the entire process. This paper attempts to explore the issue of global-local interaction, and we will use an example of an invoice infonnation system, called Galatee, designed by an international team and implemented in the Mozambican Electricity Company (EDM). Some implications will be drawn for the conference theme on IS perspectives and challenges in the context of globalisation.
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