An information integration framework for Donor funded projects

Abstract

Donor Funded Projects (DFPs) are organizations which are born out of a need to address development shortcomings, are time bound often in remote locations. They also tend to be funded by limited budgets and set-up in an adhoc manner especially when addressing relief and emergencies. These challenges have resulted in a spontaneous approach to operational issues with departments deploying functional applications which fail to address organizational-wide reporting requirements. The aim of the research was to develop an integration framework to address the problems of information management in DFPs. The objectives of the research covered the challenges and the requirements of integrating information from disparate sources in DFPs, designing, developing, testing and validation of an information integration framework. The scope of the study was comprised of seven DFPs operating in a post war zone in Northern Uganda. The research is expected to optimize and compliment efforts of the DFPs’ managers and bring new knowledge in the development of a information integration frameworks. A number of researcher’s work was reviewed to assess the advantages and limitation of integration, some successful and failed cases studies, approaches to integration, specific examples of challenges in DFPs and a review of frameworks and their suitability in this research. A survey methodology was used to collect data while a design methodology used in the development of the framework and a clear explanation to justify the development of new framework in preference of existing frameworks is provided. The results of the survey were presented in tabular and graphical formats with narrative explanations. The results were analyzed to establish the link to the requirement for a new framework. The framework was developed using rules derived from the survey results, validated using ten experts and verified using Extensible Markup Language (XML as the media of carrying information from the disparate sources to the consolidated reports. In conclusion, the research satisfied the set objectives; the summary of which been presented in a tabular format in chapter five. It was also revealed that changing horizon of the XML landscape presents some challenges and as well as potential benefits.