Book Description

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has contributed immensely to social and economic improvements, such as higher employment and productivity, and increased access to a higher quality of life. ICT incorporates electronic technologies and techniques used to manage information and knowledge, including information-handling tools used to produce, store, process, distribute and exchange information. The benefits of ICT can be achieved directly, through improved healthcare provision and disease prevention, or indirectly, through improved social infrastructure, economic growth, or other broader determinants of population health. In the context of public health, ICT, if properly designed and implemented, can generate many positive outcomes: improved access for communities in rural or remote areas, support of healthcare professionals, real-time disease surveillance, data sharing, and data capture, storage, interpretation, and management. ICT can generate important contributions to public health, from education to surveillance. In the education and higher learning context, ICT enables healthcare professionals to be updated and trained on knowledge advances wherever are located. The US National Higher Education ICT Initiative (2003) defines ICT knowledge as “the ability to use digital technology, communication tools, and/or networks appropriately to solve information problems to function in an information society. This includes the ability to use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate, and communicate information and the possession of a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information.” ICT tools are also indispensable to healthcare professionals and researchers because of the current volume and complexity of information available from different sources (peer-reviewed journals, the Internet, and mainstream media). In 2003, a study reported that 55 new clinical trials were performed per day, 1,260 articles were indexed in MEDLINE per day, and 5,000 papers were published in the health field per day.7 Information management tools are thus necessary for these professionals to navigate through the vast amounts of data and information available. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), ICT “can contribute to achieving universal education worldwide, through the delivery of education and training of teachers, improved professional skills, better conditions for lifelong learning, and the potential to reach people that are outside the formal education process.” In the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, ICT is highlighted as the means to reach the underserved, to listen, and to learn from their experience. Online education is essential for students whose physical presence in class is impeded because of work or family responsibilities, geographical limitations, health issues, or other constraints. Although face-to-face interaction in a classroom setting seems to be preferred among education professionals, the number of online universities and online courses offered by on-campus universities has risen in the past 10 years. To develop successful online programs, however, it is necessary to understand what the specific ICT needs of an institution are. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), investments in higher education are essential for economic growth, and the global demand for higher education is predicted to increase vastly from less than 100 million students in 2000 to more than 250 million students in 2025. Institutions have to integrate the innovative tools made available by ICT to increase access to and improve the quality and competitiveness of higher education programs. Without these tools and technologies.