Volume 2 - Issue 3, May - June 2026

Healthcare data collection in rural sub-Saharan Africa is critically constrained by intermittent or absent internet connectivity, leading to fragmented patient records, delayed clinical decision-making, and compromised public health surveillance. This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of an Offline-First Information Systems (OFIS) architecture tailored for rural primary healthcare facilities operating in low-connectivity environments. Grounded in Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, this study follows a rigorous artifact construction and evaluation cycle comprising problem identification, design artifact development, demonstration, and evaluation. The proposed architecture integrates a local-first database layer (CouchDB/PouchDB), a conflict-resolution engine, encrypted data synchronization queues, and RESTful API gateways that activate upon connectivity restoration. Field deployment across twelve primary healthcare centers in Nigeria and Ghana over nine months revealed significant improvements: a 94% reduction in data entry failures, a 78% improvement in patient record completeness, and a mean synchronization latency of 3.2 seconds upon connectivity restoration. The artifact contributes a reusable IS design theory for low-resource, high-impact health informatics environments. Implications for practitioners, health system designers, and IS researchers are discussed.

Zibril O. Aliyu, Dr.Aliu Omowumi Hafsat,"Offline-First IS Architecture for Rural Primary Healthcare Data Collection: A Design Science Research Approach in Low-Connectivity Environments" International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research and Educational Development, V2(3): Page(1105-1110) May-June 2026. ISSN: 3107-6513. www.ijamred.com. Published by Scientific and Academic Research Publishing.