Browsing by Author "Ricketts, Adam"

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    Open Access
    Open source geographic information systems: promoting access to health services information through a local and participatory development methodology
    (2007) Ricketts, Adam; Rivett, Ulrike
    The challenges associated with the provision of health services in South Africa are immense. The South African Government aims to address some of these challenges through the decentralisation of health services management. Information sharing and dissemination is seen as a critical factor in the success of such a structure. Geographic information systems (GIS) have been identified as a means through which information can be shared. The research aims to determine how GIS can aid the management of health related services through the use and sharing of information. This is based on the premise that the GIS is developed in a participatory manner and focused at the local community level. Three major steps make up the research being presented. The first aimed to determine the status quo of GIS use in South Africa. An online questionnaire was designed for this purpose. The second was the facilitation of the participatory development of an open source GIS prototype based on the results of the online questionnaire. The third step was the testing of the GIS prototype. Testing was completed using methodologies from case study research and human computer interaction (HCI), and included a case study of the Overstrand municipal area, in which usability testing of the GIS prototype was completed. The research found that GIS has a significant role to play in the sharing and use of information at a local community level. The methodology employed in the research illustrated an effective manner in which to promote participation in the development of a system. Furthermore it was determined that open source software allows for the flexibility required for such system development, in that the focus of development must be for a specific group of people, and for specific tasks to be carried out by those people.
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    Open Access
    Open source GIS for HIV/AIDS management
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2008) Vanmeulebrouk, Bas; Rivett, Ulrike; Ricketts, Adam; Loudon, Melissa
    BACKGROUND: Reliable access to basic services can improve a community's resilience to HIV/AIDS. Accordingly, work is being done to upgrade the physical infrastructure in affected areas, often employing a strategy of decentralised service provision. Spatial characteristics are one of the major determinants in implementing services, even in the smaller municipal areas, and good quality spatial information is needed to inform decision making processes. However, limited funds, technical infrastructure and human resource capacity result in little or no access to spatial information for crucial infrastructure development decisions at local level.This research investigated whether it would be possible to develop a GIS for basic infrastructure planning and management at local level. Given the resource constraints of the local government context, particularly in small municipalities, it was decided that open source software should be used for the prototype system. RESULTS: The design and development of a prototype system illustrated that it is possible to develop an open source GIS system that can be used within the context of local information management. Usability tests show a high degree of usability for the system, which is important considering the heavy workload and high staff turnover that characterises local government in South Africa. Local infrastructure management stakeholders interviewed in a case study of a South African municipality see the potential for the use of GIS as a communication tool and are generally positive about the use of GIS for these purposes. They note security issues that may arise through the sharing of information, lack of skills and resource constraints as the major barriers to adoption. CONCLUSION: The case study shows that spatial information is an identified need at local level. Open source GIS software can be used to develop a system to provide local-level stakeholders with spatial information. However, the suitability of the technology is only a part of the system - there are wider information and management issues which need to be addressed before the implementation of a local-level GIS for infrastructure management can be successful.