Enterprise architecture (EA) is an approach that organizations can use to help align their information system (IS) with their mission, goals, and objectives and help them determine how to most effectively achieve their objectives, by investing in information and communication technology.

EA applies principles and practices to guide organizations through the business, IS, and technology changes necessary to execute their strategies. The EA approach can help the health sector simplify the complexity of its health information system (HIS) by identifying important relationships and aligning different components of the HIS, to reduce the risks of fragmentation, duplication, and lack of interoperability.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes EA as a method of assessing or describing technology adoption in the health sector. For member countries to achieve HIS improvement, WHO recommends the following development steps: architecture vision, business architecture, IS architecture, technology architecture, opportunities and solutions, migration planning, implementation governance, and architecture change management.

In line with WHO and other global standards, Tanzania first articulated its intent to use EA to manage digital transformation in the health sector in its first national eHealth strategy (2013-2018). Through its Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, the Government of Tanzania aimed to use EA to guide the development of an integrated national HIS.

The need for the health sector to apply the EA approach is also evident in Tanzania’s draft National Health Policy (2020), which aims “to achieve improved efficiency of the Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) and its associated processes to meet health-sector monitoring and evaluation requirements.”