In many developing countries, the DHIS2 software (developed by HISP) is implemented and supports the collection, aggregation and display of aggregated health data. At the same time, DHIS2 is in some countries also used as a Logistics Management Information System (LMIS), or as a component of the LMIS supporting the distribution of health commodities. Still, our understanding of the role of DHIS2 in logistics management, how it compares to other open-source platforms (like openLMIS) and supply chain more widely is limited.
To improve our understanding of the role DHIS2 can play in logistics management, the following topics can potentially be developed into projects:
- What are the 'best practices' using DHISs as LMIS - what are capabilities already in place and what are the limitations?
- DHIS2 dashboards for logistics managers
- Using Smartphones/Android and SMS to support logistics management down to the lowest level of the health system
- Integrating service delivery data and commodity data
- Supporting the use of service data for commodity forecasting and management
The topics of these theses will be defined more concretely in discussion with interested Master students. A thesis may be practically focused (design and/or programming) or more geared towards analyzing, conceptualizing and improving our understanding of relevant cases. Students are expected to do a field study in a developing country, and typically develop a solution and test/evaluate it in the field. We expect the students to spend from 1 to 3 months in the field.