Service Oriented Architecture as an Enabler of ICT Integration

There is a known global initiative to improve health care services using Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Web Services. The health sector has witnessed the introduction of computer decision support systems and technologies to enable the attainment of an effective healthcare system. These systems are to a large extent not interoperable and do not support agility, re-usability and integration owing to the approaches that gave birth to them. This work reports an investigation into the applicability of SOA and Web services standards towards the integration and optimization of ICT systems and services provided by emergency vehicles and their control centres. It 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. The idea therefore is to address issues of ICT integration,interoperability and support for information inter-change 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.