The Global HISP Network

The HISP network has 30+ years of experience providing localized support to design, implement, maintain & adapt innovative and sustainable locally owned information systems – at a global scale.

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HISP: On-the-ground support for local systems and a global network for sharing solutions

The HISP network is a global collaborative association made up of 23 local HISP groups (and counting!), which are local legal entities based in-country in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, plus the HISP Centre at the University of Oslo (HISP UiO). We engage in long-term partnerships with Ministries of Health and other local stakeholders in more than 80 countries to support sustainable, locally-owned information systems. Our core areas of work include designing, developing, and maintaining the DHIS2 software platform and related tools and resources, and providing implementation support, local customization and configuration, custom app development, and in-country and regional capacity building for digitalization projects in LMICs.

Our approach to this work rests on a combination of participatory design through action research with local stakeholders, development of generic open-source software tools, and long-term, local implementation support and capacity strengthening. Our work is guided by shared values and principles that emphasize collaboration, sharing, local ownership and input, and long-term commitment to our partners and mission of supporting digitalization and information system strengthening in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The HISP network has a three-tiered organizational structure to facilitate our work on projects and contracts from the local to the global level:

National & subnational: HISP groups support projects that are based in individual countries, including the country where the group is based and countries in their region and language community.
Regional & continental: HISP hubs in Africa and Asia coordinate multi-country, regional, and continental projects, subcontracting with HISP groups across the region to draw on their resources and expertise.
Global: HISP UiO, as the coordinating body for the global HISP network, leads work on global initiatives, including development of DHIS2 software features and supporting resources, and in-country implementation projects through subcontracts with HISP hubs and HISP groups.

Explore our interactive map to see how the HISP network is supporting countries around the world, and find out more about HISP groups, HISP hubs, and HISP UiO in the sections below. If you can’t see the map, a full list of HISP groups is available here.

At the bottom of this page, you can also discover the advantages of the HISP approach, and how to contract or partner with us.

HISP groups: Local digitalization partners on the ground

HISP groups are independent, non-profit, legally registered organizations within the HISP network that support the use of data for better outcomes in one or more countries, with a focus on the Global South. HISP groups are long-term partners of national Ministries in the countries they support, and also contract with other organizations working on DHIS2 projects at the national and subnational level.

HISP group activities include:

Supporting implementation and maintenance, local customization and configuration, app development and integration for DHIS2, along with other open-source software platforms.
Supporting country ownership of information systems, engaging users in the participatory design and development process, and building resilience in countries to promote long-term sustainable implementations.
Strengthening local information system capacity through in-country trainings at the national and subnational level, the DHIS2 Academy program, and hands-on mentorship and support to national core DHIS2 teams.
Informing the development of the core DHIS2 software and supporting resources by bringing local stakeholder perspectives to the HISP UiO team,
Collaborating with the global team on design and testing of new features and products.
Engaging in research projects and teaching with UiO and local partner universities.

HISP groups are led by DHIS2 experts, many of whom have PhDs from the HISP program at UiO and have been part of the DHIS2 community for decades. They are staffed with experienced DHIS2 implementers, developers, and trainers who provide support for national, regional, and international projects. HISP groups exchange resources and experiences through the continental HISP hubs and across the HISP network, helping all countries benefit from HISP innovations and lessons learned. The close and ongoing collaboration between HISP groups and their local partners has been the main reason for the widespread success of DHIS2.

Explore the map or the HISP Group contact list to find the HISP group in your area or language community. If your region is not included in this list, you can contact HISP UiO directly at partnership@dhis2.org

HISP hubs: Facilitating coordination and synergistic approaches in Africa and Asia

HISP hubs are continental associations of HISP groups in Africa and Asia that facilitate collaboration, partnership, coordination, and cooperation in information system strengthening activities at the country and regional levels.

HISP hub activities include:

Supporting Governments, Development Partners, international bodies and others for supporting digital transformation processes through design and implementation of national information systems and integrated information architectures based primarily on free and open source software.
Sharing country experiences, best practices, innovations and resources within the HISP groups, and across the broader HISP network.
Transferring skills and facilitating the exchange of staff across HISP groups, to increase capacity and ensure uniform approaches and standards across the continent.
Coordinating and facilitating capacity-building activities – at continental, regional, and national levels – including hosting and arranging DHIS2 Academies and developing teaching curriculums and materials.
Leveraging innovations from the HISP network and localizing them to local contexts.

HISP hubs coordinate contracts and manage funding to ensure synergistic work across HISP groups in the region and promote effective HISP collaboration with investors, donors, funders, partners, government entities, and clients in the public and private sectors. HISP Africa and HISP Asia are formalized through an MoU between all member groups. Find out more about the HISP hubs and contact them for support at these links:

HISP Africa: hispafrica.org
HISP Asia: hispasia.org

HISP UiO: Leading DHIS2 development & coordinating the HISP network

The HISP Centre at the University of Oslo (HISP UiO) is a non-profit, interdisciplinary center within UiO’s Department of Informatics that promotes research, innovation and capacity strengthening on information systems and digitalization for health, education, and other sectors and programs that support the Sustainable Development Goals. Through our work, we help LMICs to design, deploy, and sustain digital tools for improved public sector governance through decentralized data collection and use.

HISP UiO activities include:

Engaging in partnerships with international and bilateral organizations to ensure the long-term sustainability of DHIS2 as a Digital Public Good.
Supporting the global HISP network as a coordinating body and equal partner to the HISP groups.
Developing and maintaining the DHIS2 software platform, and related global resources and tools that can be freely adapted to support local implementations and innovations.
Managing contracts for global and multi-region projects – including subcontracting HISP hubs and HISP groups for country-level work – and coordinating DHIS2 initiatives for new sectors and emerging use cases.
Collaborating with partner organizations to ensure that DHIS2 supports – and helps disseminate – global standards, and to facilitate interoperability.
Coordinating the DHIS2 Academy curriculum, developing training materials and resources, organizing and facilitating advanced Academy trainings, and managing the DHIS2 Online Academy.
Coordinating the DHIS2 Community of Practice discussion forum, and producing and disseminating informational materials about DHIS2 and HISP.

HISP UiO began in 1994 as the Health Information Systems Programme, a PhD research collaboration between UiO in Norway and the University of the Western Cape in post-apartheid South Africa. HISP UiO has grown over time to meet growing DHIS2 demand in LMICs – with the support of our financial partners – into a diverse organization with employees based both in Norway and in countries around the world. Learn more about HISP UiO.

The advantages of contracting with HISP

Working with HISP on information systems and digitalization projects offers several benefits that larger commercial organizations and temporary consultants can’t match:

Expert technical knowledge of DHIS2 design, customization, implementation, and integration.
Established long-term relationships with Ministries of Health and other local, regional & global stakeholders.
Demonstrated ability to implement at scale from the facility to the national level, in more than 80 countries.
Successful capacity building for local DHIS2 use and sustainable local ownership, with tens of thousands trained.
Global sharing of innovations and best practices reduces costs and improves effectiveness.
Dependable & sustainable network supported by global development partners.
Worldwide reach with local groups on the ground in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America

“The nice part about this investment… is that by investing in (HISP) UiO it’s the most bang for the buck. We invest in one place and it gets pushed out globally.”
– Dr. Carl Kinkade, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Contracting HISP and partnering with us

Depending on the nature of your project, there are several options for how to contract with HISP:

National and subnational projects: Local HISP groups can be contracted directly for DHIS2 and information system design, implementation, support, app development, and capacity building projects, or subcontracted through the HISP hub or HISP UiO. You can find the contact information for each HISP group in the list above.
Continental and regional projects: HISP hubs in Africa and Asia can be contracted for multi-country, regional, or continental projects, coordinating work across multiple HISP groups and contributions from the core DHIS2 team at the HISP Centre where needed. You can contact the HISP hubs through their websites listed above.
Global and multi-region projects, emerging sectors & core DHIS2 development: HISP UiO can be contracted to manage projects that cut across geographies or expand the DHIS2 platform and shared global resources for new features or use cases. HISP UiO can also subcontract to HISP hubs and individual HISP groups, combining global and local expertise. We also welcome partnerships with global donors that want to support our work and impact. Contact us: partnership@dhis2.org

Learn more

Joining the HISP network

The HISP network continues to grow, and we are grateful for the continued interest from local groups in being part of our global movement. Becoming a recognized member of the HISP network involves going through a process of familiarization and collaboration with regional member groups. Typically this means working with HISP regularly over an extended period of time – as a general rule, new HISP groups have already collaborated with HISP for years before becoming official members of the HISP network. This helps us ensure that all groups in the network adhere to our shared principles of performance and conduct, and are aligned with HISP’s shared values.

If your organization is interested in starting to collaborate with us with the goal of eventually becoming members of the HISP network, please contact the HISP hub in your region (HISP Africa or HISP Asia). For organizations in other regions, contact HISP UiO at partnership@dhis2.org