Theoretically, we will explore key phenomena and concepts related to platform ecosystems. We adopt a socio-technical perspective, exploring aspects such as design and innovation, governance, and architecture. Practically, you will learn how to develop web-based applications for a platform through individual assignments covering HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React. In a group project, you will design and develop an application for the health information platform DHIS2, which is used by governments in more than 80 countries.
While the course involves hands-on web development, the theoretical part is a key element of the course. The practical work is graded as a shared project grade counting 40% towards your final grade in the course. Your ability to use the theoretical learnings from the course (from the lectures and the literature) to reflect and discuss central aspects of platform ecosystems will be tested on the final individual exam, counting 60% towards your final grade. You need to take part in the lectures and read the articles included in the mandatory course syllabus in order to pass and get a good grade in the course. We expect that students have prior experience with object-oriented or functional programming (in i.e., Java, Phyton). The teaching resources for JavaScript, React, etc. assumes an understanding of fundamental programming concepts.
Practical part
In the practical part of the course, you will learn how to develop front-end web applications using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React, and how to build these applications ‘on top of’ a software platform. During the first weeks, you will follow a self-paced online course that takes you through the necessary fundamentals of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React for you to develop front-end web applications. The online course is accompanied by three individual assignments that must be submitted and passed to continue. After completing these, you will carry out a group project where the aim is to build an application for the DHIS2 software platform. In the project, you will be provided with a case that describes a problematic situation for a group of end-users of the DHIS2 software. Your project group will have six weeks to design and develop a web-based application that addresses the challenges of the end-users. You will present your work two times. In the first presentation, you will present your preliminary understanding and planned solution to get feedback from the course teachers. The second presentation is held after the final submission of your solution and is graded. You must also record a 4-minute video demo of your solution, highlighting its features. The video is submitted before the final presentation.
DHIS2
The DHIS2 software platform is used to collect, analyze, and present health information in public and private organizations in more than 80 countries. It is developed by the HISP Center at the University of Oslo (UiO). The DHIS2 software can be configured for the collection, analysis, and presentation of a variety of different data, and it can be extended by developing ‘custom apps’ on top of the generic platform. This allows the different user organizations to customize DHIS2 according to their local needs, and for third parties to offer innovative functionality and user interfaces to the larger ecosystem of developers and users. In your group project, you will work on a case inspired by real-world experiences with DHIS2 to develop an innovative app for the platform. You can read more about DHIS2 at www.dhis2.org.
Resources to support the project work
We use the course to experiment and test resources related to design, innovation, and app development in the DHIS2 platform ecosystem. The aim is to develop resources that can provide value to the larger ecosystems of designers, developers, and users of DHIS2 across the world. Several of the resources are offered to you as support in the project work. This includes an ‘Application Development Platform’ and a Design System that aims at making DHIS2 app development more efficient. The self-paced web development course that you will use in the first weeks of the semester is developed and tested through use in IN5320, but with the aim of being relevant to the larger ecosystem of DHIS2 developers.
The output of the project
The result of your project work will be an application for DHIS2. The source code and a presentation video of the best solutions from the project will be made publicly available on GitHub or similar online channels to be used by DHIS2 practitioners as a basis for applications in real implementation projects.