Policy-Practice Contradiction: Case of Cloud Computing Adoption in the Malawi Health Sector

Abstract

This paper examines the dynamics of policy implementation and how policy contradicts reality on the ground when it comes to practice. The paper finds that despite having well-laid out policy; the actual practice is contrary. Taking data storage policy within the Ministry of Health in Malawi as a case study, the paper highlights that the contextual realities of where Ministry of Health (MoH) data is stored depends on a number of Technology-Organizational-Environmental (TOE) factors. In the wake of cloud computing; some of these factors act as causative factors for data to be stored in the cloud; contradicting the data storage policy.