Supporting global health goals with information and communications technology

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to critically assess the possible roles of information and communications technology (ICT) in supporting global health goals. This is done by considering privilege and connectibility. In short, ICT can contribute by providing health information via four different kinds of access, each with its own history and prospective future. All four are analyzed here, in two perspectives: business-as-usual and disruptive. Health data analytics is difficult since the digital representation of past, current, and future health information is lacking. The flow of analytics that may prove beneficial to the individual and not just meet abstract population-level goals or ambitions is analyzed in detail. Sensemaking is also needed, to meet the minimum requirement of making prospective future services understandable to policymakers. Drivers as well as barriers for areas in which policy decisions have the potential to drive positive developments for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals are identified.

KEYWORDS:

• Health data
• health data analytics
• precision medicine
• connectibility
• privilege
• sensemaking

Responsible Editor Nawi Ng, Umeå University, Sweden

SPECIAL ISSUE mHealth for Improved Access and Equity in Health Care

Responsible Editor Nawi Ng, Umeå University, Sweden

SPECIAL ISSUE mHealth for Improved Access and Equity in Health Care

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Tobias Heger for valuable comments on the first draft. MB would like to thank the interviewees in Kerala, India, for generously sharing their thoughts on the value of ICT. MB carried out part of this research as CSR work for RISE SICS, and partly in the EIT Health (H2020) project MULTI-MODE (Multimodal strategies to promote a healthy brain in aging: innovative evidence-based tools). The article was published thanks to financial support from the Wallenberg Foundation and Umeå University.

Disclosure statement

EK is employed at Ericsson, and MB has carried out foresight work for the company.

Ethics and consent

No individual data were handled for this research. All interviewees gave their consent to use quotations and anecdotes, more of which can be provided to researchers upon request, in a way that respects the privacy of the subjects.

Paper context

Based on Ericsson mobility data, the outcome of an Ericsson-commissioned foresight, and public reports on the connection between the SDGs and connectivity, this analysis adds health data analytics characteristics and empirical observations on the user value of mHealth and on ICT in general. Implications include an urgent need for sensemaking and for policymakers to work on the micro- as well as the macro-level.

Additional information

Funding

MB carried out part of this research as CSR work for the non-profit RISE SICS, and was partly funded by the EIT Health (H2020) project MULTI-MODE (Multimodal strategies to promote a healthy brain in aging: Innovative evidence-based tools).

Notes on contributors

Magnus Boman

EK provided primary data and elicited key data points from Ericsson mobility reports. MB provided primary data from a foresight project, and wrote and revised the first draft. Both authors conducted fieldwork and discussed paper content and subsequent revisions.