Complementing the contact tracing system on DHIS2, there are other initiatives and systems employed in the response to the pandemic. Topics for theses listed below may also be applicable for such other systems.
There are several potential theses available around Covid-19. We expect a group of up to 6-7 students to work together, with diverse but complementary themes. The empirical fieldwork will be conducted in Norway and will include collaboration with different organizations as appropriate. Municipalities in the greater Oslo region will be natural sites to be engaged with. The research group always seeks to combine practical and theoretical relevance, and for some topics, it will be natural to engage more in practical problem-solving together with health staff and other actors.
Potential topics include
- Information needs among various actors around disease surveillance in general, and covid in particular, in Norway. Identify relevant actors in the infectious disease surveillance system in Norway, their info needs, and what the implications of this may be on the development and integration of information systems.
- Challenges around Confidentiality, Integrity, Accessibility (CIA) of efficient contact tracing for Covid-19. A thesis can explore all of these issues, or go more in-depth about one. For example, competencies to handle patient confidentiality will vary greatly between municipalities. In a situation where the speed of deployment has been essential, how has this been addressed? Another specific topic could be to examine how to deal with contact tracing across municipalities and ensure that contact tracers have the corresponding authorities.
- Design and develop prototypes of novel apps for the DHIS2 platform that strengthen the user experience for end-users and/or provide new relevant functionality that are useful for the Covid-19 use case. Students could, for instance, focus on design and user-orientation aspects of the process (e.g., work with end-users to understand their needs), or on how DHIS2 as a software platform currently is, and better may support the development of third-party apps. Students working with this topic will also be part of the DHIS2 Design Lab, collaborating with other master students exploring user-oriented design and innovation within the DHIS2 ecosystem.
- Comparative study of several applications and systems for contact tracing in Norway. There are at least a handful of systems in use as municipalities are free to select their own solutions. The study can look at various aspects, like usability, ease of use, scalability, and the like.
- The infectious disease health information systems ecosystem (HIS) and potential integrations. Get an overview of what the HIS ecosystem looks like today and where DHIS2 is placed in this ecosystem. Research potential communication between the HIS by for example utilizing available communication standards.
- Patient-centred contact tracing. The general public is expected to take part in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. One way to facilitate this is to develop apps individuals can use to for example register symptoms and signs. Such apps should not be standalone solutions but communicate with health information systems (HIS) such as for example FIKS, MSIS etc. The app needs to abide by GDPR and universal design principles. Students can for example start by researching the Smittestopp app and other similar apps to get an overview of the requirements such an app must satisfy. Ownership of the data can also mount to a discussion.