Digital Health relates to “health information systems which enable the merging of social-care
and healthcare systems. This would impact on the organisation, service delivery as well as
the technological infrastructure” (Herselman & Botha, 2016, p.10). However, with relatively
sparse research publications emanating from within the Namibian Health domain, and the
concept of Namibian Digital Health as an emergent phenomenon, a Namibian Digital Health
Innovation Ecosystem Framework would provide a start to conceptualising, developing and
implementing such an ecosystem for Namibia and thus unlocking the potential of Digital
Health in this country.
The purpose of this study is to develop a Namibian Digital Health Innovation Ecosystem
Framework based on literature reviews and the feedback from knowledgeable professionals
(KPs) in Namibia, as well as global experts. The methodology which was applied in this
study to address the purpose, and to answer the research questions, was Design Science
Research Methodology and the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) process of
Peffers, Tuunanen, Rothenberger and Chatterjee (2008), was adopted. Pragmatism is the
overall philosophy guiding the study, as proposed by Ackoff’s theory regarding the hierarchy
of human understanding (1989) and Shneiderman’s visual information seeking mantra
(1996). During Phases 2 and 3 of the study interpretivism and positivism were applied as
philosophies, guided by hermeneutics and triangulation, towards understanding the
feedback of Knowledgeable Professionals (KPs) in Namibia, as well as the global experts.
The study was divided into three phases. The first phase entailed a literature study which
identified the components of Digital Health, Innovation and Digital Ecosystems as well as
related research of Digital health, Innovation and Digital Ecosystems in developed and
developing countries. This process led to the compilation of the initial Namibian Digital
Health Innovation Ecosystem Framework using a conceptual approach. In the second phase
of the study, the initial Namibian Digital Health Innovation Ecosystem was evaluated by KPs
in Namibia using the Delphi method and interviews. Phase 2 adopted both quantitative and
qualitative approaches. The findings from Phase 2 resulted in the development of the
intermediate Namibian Digital Health Innovation Ecosystem Framework. In Phase 3 of the
study, the intermediate framework was validated by global experts. Feedback was collected
from global experts through questionnaires which were analysed through qualitative content
analysis. The findings, from Phase 3 led to the development of the final Namibian Digital
Health Innovation Ecosystems Framework. The guidelines, which can be used by the
Namibian government to implement the suggested digital health innovation ecosystem
framework, were also provided. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Systems)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/23182 |
| Date | 02 1900 |
| Creators | Iyawa, Gloria Ejehiohen |
| Contributors | Herselman, Marlien, Botha, A. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xix, 323 leaves), 1 unnumbered page : illustrations (some color) , maps |
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