An Information Technology doctoral student has developed an application aimed at increasing compliance with the law on data protection in Uganda’s health sector.
For her PhD in Information Systems at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, Barbara Naluwadda Kayonde aimed to identify a practical way to help health workers protect patients’ personal information and comply with the law when using electronic health information systems.
Despite enactment of the Data Protection and Privacy Act 2019, Uganda’s healthcare sector still faces persistent challenges with data privacy and security violations driven by staff misuse of digital platforms and other factors.
This has led to low compliance among hospital employees, widening the gap between regulatory frameworks and practical implementation.
In a press statement, Thami Nkwanyane, the Media Liaison and Monitoring Officer Communication and Marketing Department at the UCT, said that to address this, Ms Naluwadda developed a mobile application, DPPAce, designed to improve compliance with the law in Electronic Health Information Systems, by addressing data minimisation, transparency and retention.
“Kayonde was drawn to the topic by a long-standing concern in privacy research: how people can retain control over their personal information after sharing it with others”, stated Nkwanyane.
Her doctoral thesis is titled “Developing a mobile-app to enhance hospital employees’ compliance with the Data Protection and Privacy Act in Electronic Health Information Systems”.
Supervised by Professor Michael Kyobe, Ms Naluwadda graduated for her PhD in Information Systems at the University of Cape Town’s Sarah Baartman Hall on Wednesday, September 9, 2026.
Ms. Naluwadda, a lecturer in the Department of Information Systems at Makerere University Business School (MUBS), believes her research will help protect patients from the consequences of poor data handling, including as stigma, embarrassment or discrimination.
As a lecturer, Ms. Naluwadda work mainly involves teaching and research in Information Systems, with particular interests in data protection and privacy, responsible artificial intelligence, digital innovation and design science research.
Her study focused on three provisions of the Act: collecting only necessary information, being transparent with patients about how their information is used and keeping information only for as long as necessary. She believes her research will help protect patients from the consequences of poor data handling, including as stigma, embarrassment or discrimination.
By Catherine Ageno
