Authors:
S D Sreeganga
1
;
Susanna G. Mitra
1
and
Arkalgud Ramaprasad
1
;
2
Affiliations:
1
Ramaiah Public Policy Center, Bengaluru, India
;
2
University of Illinois, Chicago, U.S.A.
Keyword(s):
Cyberenvironment, Learning System, Surveillance, Feedback-loop, Malaria Elimination.
Abstract:
Surveillance is critical for malaria elimination. Malaria transmission takes place in a dynamic and complex environment. The key goal in developing a malaria surveillance system is to ensure that it is robust, systematic, and effective for improving data availability for decision-making. We present a unified framework for envisioning malaria surveillance informatics as an ontology-based feedback system. The framework presented is a solution for the current fragmented and linear surveillance processes for malaria case management. It encapsulates a comprehensive natural language enumeration of the requirements of the cyberenvironment, structured into 5 dimensions - timing, surveillance process, information surveyed, malaria management, and stakeholder, with each of them articulated as a taxonomy of its constituent elements. The elements are combined to form natural language statements of the cyberenvironment requirement. The information generation through the semiotic cycle provides re
al-time sense and response capability for timely and targeted interventions. The response mechanism creates both positively and negatively reinforcing feedback-based learning processes at multiple levels. Such a system enables data interoperability for capturing malaria incidence, discover epidemiological clusters, and predict propagation dynamics. On a larger scale, the integrative framework enables data harmonization, analytics, and visualization towards effective management and knowledge generation on disease surveillance.
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