2nd Phase of VODAN Africa Project (October 2020 -Date)
Our focus in the second phase is on the production of observational patient data at some selected clinics and hospitals in Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The data produced will be machine-readable, FAIR, and will remain in the health facility where it was produced ensuring data ownership and analytical capabilities.
Our technical team is retooling CEDAR metadata to reflect the unique scenarios in our participating countries. The architecture was designed to capture clinical and research data (non-clinical data) and allow independent teams to adopt the architecture. The VODAN-Africa architecture is in line with the SMART guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). Also, a 6-level architecture for access control and security has been adopted by different stakeholders. All engagements with the Ministries of Health (MoH), proposed clinics, and hospitals in the participating countries have been activated.
In partnership with Leiden University Medical Center, (LUMC) and Stanford University, VODAN-Africa established the Data Stewardship training for FAIR Data Creation in CEDAR. In the next phase, VODAN-Africa is setting up a FAIR Data Stewardship Center for FAIR Data creation in Africa. FAIR Research data in CEDAR have been created by the team led by Dr. Mariem Ghardallou, of the University de Souse in Tunisia.
Deliverables for the Phase
- Template development for the participating health facilities
- CEDAR - Architectural overview - Template and Vocabulary Creation
- Research Data
- Architectural integration and testing
- Access and Control and integration with Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC)
- Dashboard development preparation
Project Timeline
2021
- January – Preparations of collaboration with CEDAR
- February – Adaptation of implementation plan and preparation of outreach
- March - Introduction of VODAN-Africa in 9 countries
- April - Introduction of VODAN-Africa to health facilities
- May - Technical testing in Africa
- June/July - Technical integration of requirements with CEDAR
- August/September - Preparation of deployment tested and adapted to be suitable for African context
- October - Testing of the Minimal Viable Product (MVP) in cloud
- November – Deployment and Testing in situ
- December – Evaluation of Testing in Situ and adaptations; preparation of deployment in 84 health facilities
2022
- January – Deployment in all 9 countries and data production
- February – Test of dashboards with data within all health facilities and VODAN-Africa joint dashboard, achieved through data visiting of data in locale
