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Data collection is one of the important components of public health systems. Decision makers, policy makers and health service providers need accurate and timely data in order to improve the quality of their services. The rapidly growing use of mobile technologies has increased pressure on the demand for mobile-based data collection solutions to bridge the information gaps in the health sector of the developing world. This study reviews existing health data collection systems and the available open source tools that can be used to improve these systems. We further propose a prototype using open source data collection frameworks to test their feasibility in improving the health data collection in the developing world context. We focused on the statistical health data, which are reported to secondary health facilities from primary health facilities. The proposed prototype offers ways of collecting health data through mobile phones and visualizes the collected data in a web application. Finally, we conducted a qualitative study to assess challenges in remote health data collection and evaluate usability and functionality of the proposed prototype. The evaluation of the prototype seems to show the feasibility of mobile technologies, particularly open source technologies, in improving the health data collection and reporting systems for the developing world.

Arduino Verkstad AB, the Swedish branch of Arduino, has developed a prototype that demonstrates a smart transducer network with a self-configurable communication protocol. The protocol is called I2C+, since it is based upon I2C. One of the possible areas of application is the EU funded PELARS project, where Arduino Verkstad is responsible for creating educational tools. Within the PELARS project, a maximum number of transducer modules is expected to be 20 modules, connected at the same time.The aim of this thesis was to create a testing tool and a test suite for the prototype system, which later could be used and also further developed by engineers at Arduino Verkstad, during the development of the final product. Though the testing tool was primarily needed for this particular system, it was considered desirable if it could be reused for similar projects as well.It was relevant to create the testing tool and the test suite in order to analyse the validity of the I2C+ protocol, which might become Arduino's future standard in connectivity between smart transducers. The performance of the I2C+ protocol also affects the implementation of the smart transducer system within the PELARS project.This work has been guided by a specification of requirements and also by a systematic top-down approach of solving several subproblems. A testing tool and a test suite was created, which serves as a proof-of-concept. The testing tool has a modular design, which makes the solution reusable for other purposes. The testing tool and the test suite was validated by using Arduino's prototype as a test object. Although only 10 transducer modules was used during these tests, the results showed that the prototype does not perform well for a growing number of modules. Therefore, improvement of the system and further testing is advised.

Kunskap om olika utvecklingsmetoder vid start av ett nytt mjukvaruutvecklingsprojekt äravgörande för utvecklarna, styrorganen och slutprodukten. Därför prioriteras ofta nya ochokända metoder ned för att säkerställa att arbetet blir gjort och att lösningen kommer attlevereras i tid och med hög kvalitet. Detta beteende gör på lång sikt att mjukvaruutvecklingsprojektgår miste om nya och bättre utvecklingsmetoder.För belysa nya utvecklingsmetoder och upplysa de som behöver, valde vi att undersökaskillnaderna i krav framställning inom området Open Source Software(OSS)1-utveckling.I vårt arbete ställer tre forskningsfrågor som ska belysa ämnet dessa bevarar vi genom attutföra en fallstudie. I fallstudien undersöker vi hur och av vilka som krav framställts i ettföretagsstyrt projekt jämfört med ett projekt drivet av en frivilligorganisation.Fallstudien visade att externa användare i frivilligorganisation OSS-projekt har lägredelaktighet, det vill säga bidrag till projektartefakter, jämfört med företagsdrivna projektdär deltagandet av externa användare är högre. Slutligen diskuterar vi implikationerna avresultaten för både OSS-projekt drivna av företag och frivilligorganisationer. Vi kan förbåda styrorganen dra slutsatsen att det är möjligt att öka både utvecklingshastighet ochproduktens värde för kunden. / Knowledge about different development methods when starting up a new software developmentproject is crucial for the developers, the governing bodies and the end product.Therefore new and unfamiliar options are taken out of the equation to make sure that thework gets done and that the solution will be delivered on time and with high quality. Thisbehaviour in the long term does, however, exclude new and better ways of executing thework in the process.To shine light upon new development methods and enlighten those who are in needof insight into a new viable option we chose to investigate the differences in requirementelicitation within the area of Open Source Software development. By examining how andby who requirements are elicited in a firm-driven project compared to a community drivenproject, we framed a total of three research questions to base our case study on.The case study showed that in community driven Open Source Software projects externalusers have low participation, in other words contributions to project artefacts, comparedto firm-driven projects where the participation of external users is high. Finally, wediscuss the potential implications of the findings for both community- and firm-driven OSSprojects. We could conclude for both types that it’s possible to increase both developmentspeed and customer product value.

Having a successful innovation process is crucial for any competitive enterprise. Being able to rapidly prototype and validate new concepts can reducethe time and cost from the specification-phase to a final product. This thesisinvestigates how open source hardware and software can accelerate the ideavalidation of proprietary systems.The development of a microcontroller shield and open-source-based softwareis described and how this artifact can take advantage of the open source community, thus making innovation more flexible and concept validation quicker.This thesis followed a five-stage development process, and is evaluated withtwo controlled experiments.The resulting artifact was shown through these controlled experiments thatit was able to improve the idea validation of proprietary systems. The resultof the controlled experiments showed that a new concept could be validatedfaster.

This dissertation consists of the first three papers in a stream of organization theory research inspired by the insight that humans are as motivated by identity self interest - or the "longing to belong" - as by instrumental self interest. The first paper (chapter 2) spells out this insight and its implications for the governance of knowledge intensive organizations; the second paper (chapter 3) offers an empirical test of the fundamental assumption that a continuum of motivation influences governance arrangements; and the third paper (chapter 4) uses a historical case study to refine process theories of organization by emphasizing the struggle for dominance between identity groups and their logics. / Business Administration/Strategic Management