Service Oriented Architecture : An Enabler of ICT Integration and Optimization in Public Protection and Disaster Relief Services

Abstract

There is a known global initiative to improve health care services using service oriented architecture (SOA) and Web Services. The decision support systems so far introduced have been based on software development approaches and architectural philosophies of which inherent limitations do not adequately tackle the growing pressure on the health care services such as the emergency services and the integration of systems that support such services. These systems are to a large extent not interoperable and do not support agility, reusability and integration owing to the approaches that gave birth to them. Since health services are moving towards the adoption of SOA and Web Services, the research proposes a SOA model for use in medical emergency vehicles and their control centres together with a conceptual innovative service blue print for the domain. Issues affecting implementation of SOA were also addressed. The idea is to address issues of ICT integration, interoperability and support for information interchange within the domain. The research findings suggest that, a SOA solution is feasible in the problem domain and standards-based interoperability and integration can be achieved. Issues affecting implementation of SOA were also addressed.