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Rebuilding Hope in Post-conflict Regions: Telemedicine in Kosovo

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Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

Studies from both developed and developing regions show that developing and implementing medical informatics or e-health is becoming a crucial part of effective health care and health education. Developing and implementing large-scale, technologically enabled infrastructures such as health services is notoriously difficult, even in stable regions. Post-conflict regions are extreme situations with many additional complicating features for large-scale technology projects. This chapter sets out findings of a grounded theory case study of a successful, complex telemedicine ICT system project in Kosovo. A grounded theory case study was used to explore the success of the technology project, through the lens of Ciborra (Labyrinths of information: challenging the wisdom of systems. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002) who puts forward the theory that the technology was a guest and the organisation was a host.

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Abbreviations

AUSA:

Association of the US Army

CSIS:

Centre for Strategic and International Studies

GT:

Grounded theory

HIC:

Humanitarian Information Centre

ICT:

Information and Communications Technology

IVeH:

International Virtual e-Hospital

KLA:

Kosovo Liberation Army

KPC:

Kosovo Protection Corps

MIS:

Management information system

NATO:

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NGO:

Non-governmental organization

OECD:

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

TCK:

Telemedicine Centre of Kosovo

UNMIK:

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo

UNOCHA:

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Ismet Lecaj, Director of the Telemedicine Centre of Kosovo, and Mr. Flamur Bekteshi, Information Technology Expert, for making this data available.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Information Systems and Technoculture, Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford, Republic of Ireland

    Anita Kealy & Larry Stapleton

Authors
  1. Anita Kealy
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  2. Larry Stapleton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anita Kealy .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

    Marion Hersh

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Kealy, A., Stapleton, L. (2015). Rebuilding Hope in Post-conflict Regions: Telemedicine in Kosovo. In: Hersh, M. (eds) Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6618-4_9

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