Priority-setting in health is risky and challenging, particularly in resource-constrained settings. It is not simply a narrow technical exercise, and involves the mobilisation of a wide range of capacities among stakeholders - not only the technical capacity to "do" research in economic evaluations. Using the Individuals, Nodes, Networks and Environment (INNE) framework, we identify those stake...

BACKGROUND Research positions embedded within healthcare settings have been identified as an enabler to allied health professional (AHP) research capacity; however, there is currently limited research formally evaluating their impact. In 2008, a Health Practitioner industrial agreement funded a research capacity building initiative within Queensland Health, Australia, which included 15 new alli...

Regional economies and communities are facing increasing economic, social and cultural hardship in many parts of the world as economies adjust to the demands of the new orders of commerce and governance. A part of this is the paradox that regional economies and communities can be either enhanced or disadvantaged by information and communication technologies (ICT) products and services. The pote...

Advanced warning of potential new opportunities and threats related to biodiversity allows decision-makers to act strategically to maximize benefits or minimize costs. Strategic foresight explores possible futures, their consequences for decisions, and the actions that promote more desirable futures. Foresight tools, such as horizon scanning and scenario planning, are increasingly used by gover...

This paper describes an initiative to implement a network of competency building centers that can assume a central role in shaping the Information Society in developing countries. The paper describes the business model of the centers and reports on the evaluation of their performance and their impact on national ICT initiatives for development. The main objective of the evaluation is to quantif...

In this paper, community capacity building (CCB) is seen as part of a long-standing health promotion tradition involving community action in health promotion. The conceptual context of the term CCB is presented, and compared with other community approaches. The usage of the term is variable. It is submitted that its common features are (i) the concepts of capacity and empowerment (versus diseas...

OBJECTIVES The overall objective of this project was to investigate ways to strengthen the OpenMRS community by (i) developing capacity and implementing a network focusing specifically on the needs of OpenMRS implementers, (ii) strengthening community-driven aspects of OpenMRS and providing a dedicated forum for implementation-specific issues, and; (iii) providing regional support for OpenMRS i...

Global public health issues, including tobacco use, will be addressed most effectively if informed by relevant evidence. Additional capacity is needed to undertake and sustain relevant and rigorous research that will inform and enable learning from interventions. Despite the undisputed importance of research capacity building (RCB), there is little evidence about how to create relevant capaciti...

Introduced marine species can have a large impact upon small countries that are reliant on marine tourism. Non-governmental organisations, such as the World Conservation Union (IUCN), are working with technical experts to implement capacity building and awareness programs that transfers introduced marine species knowledge to countries in need of aid. The Republic of Palau is reliant on tourism ...

Background. Health systems research is being increasingly called upon to support scaling up of disease control interventions and to support rapid health sector change. Yet research capacity building and pay-back take years or even decades to be demonstrated, while leadership and institution building are critical for their success. The case of Mexico can be illustrative for middle income countri...