Learn more or you will be edged out, this was the message from Mr Clement Nyandiere, Dean Faculty of Information Technology to ICT officers in health care while presenting his paper titled 'ICT Training in Kenya - Trends in Health Sector' at the 'ICT Officers in Healthcare Conference' held on 25th September 2007 at Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi.

Mr Nyandiere said that ICT officers and managers cannot afford to be comfortable with the first degree or diploma they acquired a few years ago. ICT is an ever-changing field and there is a lot of demand for ICT officers to be familiar with trends in software, hardware, ICT security and even policy developments governing ICTs. This requires additional skills.

“Additional skills can be acquired through formal classes at postgraduate or masters levels, short computer courses targeted at specific skills, as well as, short seminars and conferences where ideas and trends in the industry are shared,” he said.

Mr Nyandiere also proposed a model for skills enhancement that should include the managers of the health sector (including owners), health workers (including doctors and pharmacists), and the ICT services providers. This will ensure successful planning, design, development and implementation, and effective use of health management information systems (HMIS).

He pointed out that SU has developed innovative curricula tailored for the different levels of the Kenyan market which includes product offerings from certificate for entry level in ICT to masters programmes – Master of Science in Computer Based Information Systems (MSIS ) for graduates from other professions wishing to work with/in ICT, and Master of Science in IT (MSIT ) for candidates with an ICT background.

He said that Strathmore Business School was in the process of introducing an Advanced Healthcare Management Programme. The programme will cover Finance, HR, Strategy, and Health Management Systems. He noted that the Strathmore Governance Centre - a centre of excellence for research and education in governance - will be launched on 24th October with a one-day workshop on 'Governance in the Health Sector'.

The conference was sponsored by GTZ/Ministry of Health, Health sector programme and attracted participants from GTZ, Ministry Health, AMREF, commercial health services providers and non-governmental organizations in the health sector. The keynote address was given by Dr Klaus J Hornetz, Programme Leader, MOH/GTZ Health Sector Programme in Kenya.

For more details, see presentation