18 February, 2022

While reading an article by Savchenko (2021), the words ‘Everything starts with an idea’ caught my attention as my research on digital health had also begun with an idea. Last year, with the help of my mentors Dr. Breda Kenny and Dr. Helen McGuirk, I proposed an idea to overcome the great digital health divide through a doctoral research project. On the basis of extensive literature review and theoretical framework, the following model was presented in the MTU Faculty of Business and Humanities Research Day, February 18, 2022.

The digital health divide, defined as the non-availability of unified digital health innovations across different sectors and countries, has caused people to suffer during the coronavirus pandemic globally (Mardani et al., 2020). Irish digital healthcare is based on primitive interfaces like Healthmail. Similarly, Pakistani digital health initiatives are insufficient to meet the growing demand on health services. Based on the existing body of literature, the researcher has identified reasons for this digital health divide, i.e., a lack of user acceptance and a lack of people’s participation in the existing innovation development in the healthcare sector.

Thus, this research, under the Technology Acceptance Model, will examine the user acceptance and adoption of digital innovations among health entrepreneurs of Ireland and Pakistan. Furthermore, to understand people’s perspective in the digitalisation process, the research project will involve entrepreneurs in the research project and will take their opinion to improve overall innovation adoption in the digital health ecosystem.

This research project will be based on two main ideas. First, proposing a knowledge-based model in the field of digital health entrepreneurship and second, introducing a collaborative consortium platform among digital health entrepreneurs internationally to end the digital health divide.

Author: Neelofar Aleem,

Doctoral Researcher at Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence,

Munster Technological University, Bishopstown Campus.

Supervisory Panel:
Dr Breda Kenny

Head, School of Business

Munster Technological University, Bishopstown Campus.

Dr Helen McGuirk

Head, Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence

Munster Technological University, Bishopstown Campus.