GIZ-DIPC, Jembi Health and Regenstrief Institute partnership provides critical resource access
The GIZ’s project DIPC, Jembi Health Services and Regenstrief Institute Global Health Informatics Program have launched free online courses that equip professionals to support health information systems (HIS) in low- to middle-income countries. The training is a facet of a larger initiative to strengthen HIS globally, with the goal of improving care delivery and pandemic response.
There are currently four courses that cover key areas that help digital health professionals:
- End-User Support (Help Desk)
- Introduction to Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC),
- Global Goods and Community Engagement
- Business Analysis in Digital Health
The learning modules teach the knowledge and skills needed to provide efficient and effective HIS end-user support and training.
“These courses address a range of needs, including critical and yet often overlooked aspects of HIS infrastructure,” said Paul Biondich, M.D., a Regenstrief Institute research scientist who directs the Institute’s Global Health Informatics Program. “By nurturing a cadre of skilled support professionals, this program helps ensure that vital health data flows uninterrupted among clinics, governments and other stakeholders. This reliable connection is especially critical in global health crises.”
The effort is part of the Digital Innovation in Pandemic Control (DIPC) from the German Cooperation GIZ, a global project focused on harnessing technology to make pandemic prevention more effective and efficient.
Based on the identified gaps, a two-pronged learning approach has been established:
- Partner with experts to build learning modules focused on priority topics of interest.
- Cultivate a learning community to enable those supporting and sustaining health applications to engage in peer-to-peer learning.
Courses are available as self-paced learning on the Atingi learning system and as a slide deck for instructors to use or customize for training within their context. More courses and materials are in progress to be shared soon.
Ongoing online community
The GHI program also established a learning community called the eHealth Professionals Knowledge Network (eHPKN). This space supports HIS professionals through knowledge-sharing activities, promotion of existing global goods resources and opportunities for input on new training resources. Calls for this community began in 2024 and take place bi-monthly. Past meeting notes and upcoming meeting times are available on the community hub.
GIZ’s DIPC Project
GIZ’s project Digital Innovation in Pandemic Control (DIPC) believes that the demand-driven introduction, expansion and integration of digital solutions is an integral component of resilient health systems. DIPC focuses on strengthening pandemic prevention, response and vaccine distribution at national and global levels, to reduce the occurrence, spread and consequences of existing and emerging infectious diseases.
The GIZ’s project DIPC achieves this through the implementation of work packages that ensure coordination and knowledge sharing with other digital health partners. In short, the project’s goal is to harness technology to make pandemic prevention more effective and efficient.
Jembi Health Services
Jembi is an African non-profit organization registered in South Africa with a country office in Mozambique and projects in several other African countries. Since 2009, Jembi has established a reputation as one of the leading specialist digital health and health information systems organizations in Africa, delivering needs-driven solutions. Jembi’s core competencies include digital health needs assessment and requirements gathering; system design and solution architecture; software development, implementation and capacity building; and monitoring and evaluation.
Jembi acts as an ethical mediator, develops software, analyzes and re-engineers health systems, and researches the application of HIS efforts in developing countries. The organization is committed to independence, impartiality and the use of good practices in the digital health domain.
Regenstrief Institute Global Health Informatics Program
The Global Health Informatics (GHI) program at Regenstrief Institute collaborates with colleagues around the world, supporting the development and implementation of an increasingly well-defined set of principles, approaches and open technologies designed for use in resource-constrained settings.
This program is often asked to spearhead new health informatics communities of practice that support the GHI mission and vision. These communities foster innovation, strengthen local capacity and provide frameworks and ecosystems that empower emerging economies to develop and support themselves. The GHI program has a fundamental role to play in creating, leading, and participating in these communities of practice.
