8 research outputs found
A secure and interoperable blockchain-based information sharing system for healthcare providers in developing countries
Full text linkA Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Information and Communication Sciences and Engineering of
the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and TechnologySystems in the health sector are very crucial for human life and they should be efficient, reliable
and secure. Unfortunately, electronic health record (EHR) systems do not work effectively
when managing multi-institutional medical records. The EHR, which is a digital system in
which patient health information is systematically stored. The information stored includes
medical history, laboratory test results, demographics, and billing information, poses problems
to patients related to interoperability, privacy, and data integrity. Most solutions to these threats
focus on a centralized architecture that faces a single point of failure and internal threats, such
as unreliable system administrators.
The promising solution that many researchers are interested in is the use of blockchains.
However, in developing countries, and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, very little attention
has been given to the issues of interoperability, privacy and data integrity for EHRs using
blockchain technology. As such, this research has designed and developed self-sovereign
identity management and secure information sharing system for health systems in developing
countries, based on blockchain technology, which helps to solve the mentioned problems.
The study used a Design Science Research (DSR) methodology to develop solutions to the
research problem through three sub studies. The first and the second sub studies conducted
under problem awareness and suggestion phases of DSR, and third sub study conducted under
development and evaluation phases of DSR. The first sub study deal with the assessment of
three most common blockchain based healthcare systems (MedicalChain, Patientory, and
MediLedger). The second sub study studies the problem of existing EHR systems in Tanzania
regarding privacy issues in identity management and secure sharing of medical data from one
healthcare facility to the other. The third sub study deal with the development of two systems,
one for identity management using blockchain (self-sovereign identity), and one for secure
sharing of medical data from one healthcare facility to another through blockchain technology.
The systems provide additional privacy protection tools to the existing infrastructures. They
reduce development cost, transparency, data integrity, protection against single-point-offailure
vulnerabilities, and prevention of internal threats such as untrusted system
administrators. The systems will make the existing and future health information systems
trustable to healthcare service providers and the end-users of the healthcare systems. Also, will
help the stakeholders in the healthcare sector to properly manage the healthcare systems
Design of Land Administration and Title Registration Model Based on Blockchain Technology
Full text linkLand administration and title registration system is the system for storing land title information and managing transactions involving land titles. Due to the sensitivity of land issues, land administration and title registration system should be strong to avoid any document forgery, available all the time, and take a short time to complete tasks. Thus, this study aims at designing a model for such system based on blockchain technology. The proposed model is designed using UML diagrams and then tested for verification using statistical usage models (Markov chains). The proposed model integrates the Integrated Land Management Information System (ILMIS) with factom and bitcoin blockchains which enables encryption of information from ILMIS to get the fingerprint information of each land title and store it to the blockchains. The model further encrypts the land information from ILMIS when needed and then compare it with fingerprints from blockchains for verification. Such implementation of the proposed model will help ILMIS to have the capability of providing tamper proof for stored data, providing the self-notarization mechanism, and availability of evidence for the land title from distributed databases. Furthermore, the society is expected to benefit from this study as the time and cost for registering land title will decrease and the possibilities of a piece of land having more than one owner will not be there. Keywords: Blockchain, Bitcoin Blockchain, Factom Blockchain, Land Management System, Model Design.
A review on healthcare information systems and consensus protocols in blockchain technology
Full text linkThis research article published by the International Journal of Advanced Technology and Engineering Exploration, Vol 5(49), 2018Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology whereby transactions are bundled into blocks that are chained together
cryptographically by hash pointers. Blockchain solutions add trust and privacy to the existing internet due to its
tampering resistance and advanced cryptography characteristics. In healthcare systems, the technology has been
implemented to ensure transparency, auditability, interoperability, and proper governance and management of patient
information. This study evaluates blockchain based healthcare systems. Three most common systems were chosen from
public, private/consortium blockchains. The evaluation was done using framework for performance monitoring for
blockchain systems. To describe resource usage, we used five performance evaluation metrics i.e. memory consumption,
disk write and read performance, network data utilization, transaction execution per unit time, and central processing
unit (CPU) usage. The study revealed that the system developed using consortium-based platform outperformed private
and public blockchain for more transactions per unit time, and proper utilization of resources of connected nodes such as
CPU, Memory, and Disk storage
Data Warehousing for Optimizing Healthcare Resource Allocation in Botswana
Full text linkHealthcare resource allocation remains a persistent challenge in Botswana, primarily due to inefficiencies in data management that obstruct equitable distribution and evidence-based decision-making. Traditional allocation approaches in Botswana exhibit severe fragmentation, low interoperability, and an absence of real-time data analytics factors that contribute to service delivery disparities, especially in rural and underserved areas. In contrast, developed countries have leveraged data warehousing to optimize healthcare resource planning, offering Botswana a proven yet untapped strategic opportunity. This study designs and validates a context-sensitive data warehouse methodology, applying the Kimball Lifecycle model as the guiding framework. A mixed-methods design was adopted, incorporating qualitative interviews with 24 healthcare practitioners and administrators across public and private health facilities, along with quantitative surveys assessing the state of 12 existing health data systems. Results reveal systemic shortcomings in data accuracy (average error rates of 22%), timeliness (with a median data update lag of 14 days), and accessibility (only 38% of facilities had centralized access). Post-implementation of the prototype data warehouse, significant improvements were noted: data accuracy increased by 47%, data accessibility across departments rose to 85%, and decision turnaround time was reduced by 33%. The warehousing also demonstrated cost-effectiveness, reducing redundant data handling expenses by an estimated 18% over six months. In conclusion, this study presents a robust, scalable, and locally adaptable data warehousing framework that effectively addresses Botswana’s systemic challenges in healthcare resource allocation
Blockchain-based Data Storage Security Architecture for e-Health Care Systems: A Case of Government of Tanzania Hospital Management Information System
Full text linkA research article was published by IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, VOL.22 No.3, March 2022Health information systems (HIS) are facing security challenges on data privacy and confidentiality. These challenges are based on centralized system architecture creating a target for malicious attacks. Blockchain technology has emerged as a trending
technology with the potential to improve data security. Despite the effectiveness of this technology, still HIS are suffering from a lack of data privacy and confidentiality. This paper presents a blockchain-based data storage security architecture integrated
with an e-Health care system to improve its security. The study employed a qualitative research method where data were collected using interviews and document analysis. Execute-order-validate Fabric’s storage security architecture was implemented through private data collection, which is the combination of the actual private data stored in a private state, and a hash of that private data to guarantee data privacy. The key findings of this research show that data privacy and confidentiality are attained through a private data policy. Network peers are decentralized with blockchain only for hash storage to avoid storage challenges. Cost-effectiveness is achieved through data storage within a database of a Hyperledger
Fabric. The overall performance of Fabric is higher than Ethereum. Ethereum’s low performance is due to its execute-validate
architecture which has high computation power with transaction inconsistencies. E-Health care system administrators should be
trained and engaged with blockchain architectural designs for health data storage security. Health policymakers should be aware of blockchain technology and make use of the findings. The scientific contribution of this study is based on; cost-effectiveness of secured data storage, the use of hashes of network data stored in each node, and low energy consumption of Fabric leading to high performanc
Blockchain Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa: Where does it fit in Healthcare Systems: A case of Tanzania
No full textThis research article published by the Journal of Health Informatics in Developing Countries, 2019Background: Blockchain technology is a distributed electronic ledger containing digital records,
transactions or events that are protected with advanced encryptions, extremely hard to tamper, and
updateable through a consensus algorithm agreeable to all connected network nodes. In Sub-Sahara Africa,
the technology has started to be adopted in real estate, supply chain, agriculture, and financial sector.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of effort in introducing this technology in the healthcare sector. Therefore,
this study aims to explore the issues facing electronic healthcare systems in Sub-Sahara Africa taking
Tanzania as a case study and introduce blockchain-based solutions for the discovered issues.
Methods: The study used qualitative methods for data collection and analysis. Data were collected through
interviews, observation and documentary analysis. Interviews were done with the sample size of 50
participants who were selected from groups of healthcare facility leaders, ICT experts, government
representatives, doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, pharmacists, accountants, and receptionists. Direct
observation and participatory observation were used to assess different electronic healthcare records
systems’ functions. Moreover, researchers used document analysis to collect data from public records (like
policy manuals), personal documents (like incident reports), and physical evidence (like training materials
and handbooks). NVivo 11 software was applied in managing and organizing data analysis.
Results: Out of 710 healthcare facilities involved in this study, 34.5% fully implemented electronic
healthcare records systems and 78% installed Mfumo wa Taarifa za Uendeshaji Huduma za Afya
(MTUHA) also known as (District Health Information Software (DHIS) II). The findings showed that the
issues facing electronic healthcare records are; difficulties in taking care of the patients’ private information,
problems in safely sharing medical information between healthcare facilities, bandwidth issues, and
improper handling of data integrity
Expanding Contextualized Computer Science Education in Africa: A Collaborative Initiative
Full text linkBuilding on our ITiCSE-Working Group Report 2024 study, this proposal aims to expand and refine contextualized CS1 materials in partnership with African researchers and educators. Earlier findings showed that faculty see value in locally relevant materials for boosting engagement and problem-solving, though challenges remain in adapting them across contexts. This working group will co-design new materials using a structured framework and evaluate them through mixed-methods research with students centrally involved. The project promotes inclusive pedagogy, cross-institutional collaboration, and scalable strategies to better align global computing standards with local needs.Published versio
Optimizing vehicle inspection efficiency and integrity in Tanzania through blockchain technology
Full text linkThis study proposes a blockchain-based solution to improve the efficiency and integrity of vehicle inspections in Tanzania, with a focus on the National Institute of Transport. The system combines Hyperledger fabric, a permissioned blockchain that provides identity management and fine-grained access control, with the InterPlanetary file system (IPFS), a decentralized content-addressed store for large artifacts such as inspection images and portable document format (PDF) forms. Smart contracts encode inspection rules and approvals, which yield tamper-evident records, faster retrieval of histories, and uniform enforcement across centers. A mathematical model based on the M/M/1 queueing system, combined with a cost-benefit analysis, supports empirical findings: the total inspection cycle time decreases by approximately 30 percent, the average waiting time declines by about 20 to 30 percent, and annual operational savings reach approximately USD 800,000. These gains enhance auditability and transparency, which contribute to road safety outcomes by reducing opportunities for tampering and error. The design includes offline capture with later synchronization, which suits centers with intermittent connectivity. The approach is transferable to adjacent public services, for example, licensing, fine collection, and selected registries
