Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Leadership Corner
This Logo Viewlet registered to qPloneSkinSchools product
Personal tools
You are here: Home → Activity Groups → LIPHEA/HEALTH Alliance IT Workshop → Synthesis → Meeting Synthesis: HEALTH Alliance Priority ICT Domains

Meeting Synthesis: HEALTH Alliance Priority ICT Domains

Synthesis from the HEALTH Alliance E-Learning and Web Technologies Workshop (Kampala, June 2009). This synthesis document is intended to outline key ICT domains of importance to HEALTH Alliance members, and to establish potential areas of for collaborative learning and development of shared resources.

System and Network Administration

Sub themes

  • Email
  • Network: Local and internet
  • Bandwidth management
  • Network security and updates
  • Shared resources management (printers etc.)

Issues/Challenges

  • Physical and logical network design and management
  • IT Human Resources (structure, number, team composition and skills)
  • Inadequate funds & priority for IT Department
  • ISP issues (both bandwidth and support not delivered per terms of agreement)
  • Unwieldy procurement systems, often specifications requests are ignored
    • ICT does not fit in either faculty or management, so cannot move the system
    • Everything requires 1-10 letters
  • Lack of ICT budget is problem for some institutions, so ICT is borrowing
  • Lack of strategic planning; networks sometimes affected more by funds and partners than by planning
  • Legacy systems are often broken or don't work well
  • Issues with multiple vendors and tech companies, conflicting
  • Low prioritization of ICT

Lessons Learned

  • Donor involvement in system selection and implementation should perhaps be limited? Probably should work as a team.
  • IT techie people need opportunities to work in the planning realm
  • ISO certification helps with planning and prioritization of activities
  • Issue tracking systems may help (document and prioritize activity, communicate issues and solutions)

Opportunities

  • ITIL (issue tracking system)
  • Jimma has built user support software
  • Help desk or issue tracking software
  • Tutorials and end user trainings, FAQs

People and Partners with Expertise

  • Jimma University

E-learning

Issues/Challenges

  • Learning system (TUSK in Nairobi) is not being used outside of classroom
  • Accessing systems from a distance is difficult/not always done
  • Lack of dedicated support for setup, ID, maintenance, training
  • Difficult to attract faculty etc. for training
  • Systems are still too complex for users
  • Low number of access points
  • Faculty don't use the systems
  • Being used to distribute/archive course materials, but not much beyond

Lessons Learned

Opportunities

  • Establish e-learning policies, and somehow enforce

People and Partners with Expertise

  • Roy (MUSPH)
  • Deborah (Tulane)
  • ADRC: trainings on Moodle and digital library

ICT Training 

Issues

  • Pre-computer generation requires significantly more support, over 50%, but trainings are not generally effective
  • Its getting worse for pre-computer generation as we become more computer centric
  • Software trainings being conducted by IT personnel, simply because it is software, often there are other qualified trainers

Opportunities/Priorities

  • Basic applications training (Excel, Access, SPSS, EpiInfo, Outlook, PowerPoint, Office 2007, Moodle/E-learning, End note
  • IT Essentials course (analogous to computer driver's ed)
  • Include IT 
  • Partner with appropriate professionals for software trainings (who will pay them?)
  • Training budgets, perhaps should be built into department budgets
  • ICT training and consultants (Jimma), engage and train appropriate faculty and profs

Fiber Networks

Issues

  • Security, maintenance best practices are still unclear and will  be an issue
  • Reliance on external companies may cause problems

Opportunities

  • Fiber Certifications

Digital Libraries and Archives

Opportunities

Software as a service

Opportunities

Mobile applications

Opportunities

  • PEPFAR: connectivity first, so focusing on fiber
  • Engage CITs and other groups working with mobile tech

Misc

 Opportunities

  • Teaching (academic programs)
  • Communication technologies (wireless, LAN, Cisco)
  • End user hardware and software support
  • Web Application administration
    • Mainly e-learning systems
    • Nairobi is developing a custom system
  • System design
  • Knowledge management
  • Procurement, contracts, maintenance
  • Email

Challenges/Issues

  • Unwieldy university systems

Opportunities

  • Databases
  • Data visualization
  • Data dissemination
  • Networking and mobile applications
  • End user hardware and software support
  • Multimedia event capture and dissemination
 
Listen to the mp3 audio from the GUIDED DISCUSSION: Current and Potential Roles of ICT in Public Health Higher Education - mp3

Lessons Learned Discussion 26 June 2009

New Skillsets

  • Connecting new kinds of hardware
  • Camtasia
  • FTP
  • Uploading
  • Captivate
  • Recording sessions, publishing
  • NetMeeting
  • Office 2007 - PowerPoint recording
  • Creating presentations and video recording with Flip and Logitech QuickCam
  • Course creation with eXe
  • Moodle - Put up a course with SCORM
  • Enfold - drag and drop
  • Etherpad
  • Twitter
  • Skype
  • Exchange experiences
  • Describing challenges in IT
  • CIT expertise: Thin-client Labs, Mulitmedia labs, GIS, Mac Labs, Server room infrastructure
  • Virtualization

More Training/Opportunities Requested

  • More communication technologies
  • Server administration (DNS, proxies, mail, active directory, web servers)
  • Bandwidth management, optimization
  • Best Practices and expand sharing with each other
  • Web technologies (CMS, Plone, Drupal, Joomla)

Followup Actions

  • Create mailing list
  • Hold regular Skype calls, trainings
  • Access to servers
  • Create Moodle/Plone virtual environments (course creation)
  • Twitter/Facebook Social Networking
  • Create Event Calendar

 

Document Actions