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Professor Maureen Mackintosh

Profile summary

Professional biography

2021-present Emeritus Professor of Economics, The Open University

1993-2021 Professor of Economic, The Open University

Research interests

The interaction of industrial change and health sector performance, with particular reference to pharmaceuticals and other health commodities such as diagnostics. The economics of markets in social sectors, especially markets for health services and pharmaceuticals.  The organisation of health systems and their impact on poverty and inequality, notably in African contexts. The role of NGOs in access to essential medicines in low income countries. The economics of health services and development with particular reference to Africa.

Recent research projects include:

GCRF Inclusive societies: How to link industrial and social innovation for inclusive development: lessons from tackling cancer care in Africa. 2018-2021 Principal investigator Collaboration with Kenyan researchers (KEMRI, Nairobi), Tanzanian researchers (ESRF, Dar es Salaam), Indian researchers (NCBS, Bengaluru) and UK researchers (Universities of Edinburgh, Sussex and UCL)

Ethics, Payments and Maternal Survival: Wellcome Trust-funded project; 2011-13 Co-investigator; Principal Investigator Dr Paula Tibandebage, Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA), Tanzania.

Industrial productivity, health sector performance and policy synergies for inclusive growth: a study in Tanzania and Kenya: DFID-ESRC Growth Programme project 2011-14. Principal investigator. Collaborative project with Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA), Tanzania; African Centre for technology Studies (ACTS), Kenya; and RAND-Europe.

Other recent research projects include an international collaborative ESRC-funded project on Non-governmental public action to improve access by the poor to good quality low cost medicines, part of the ESRC Non-governmental Public Action (NGPA) research programme, with Prof Sudip Chaudhuri, Dr Phares Mujinja and Dr Meri Koivusalo: Non-governmental Action to Improve the Access of the Poor to Good Quality Low Cost Drugs

Prof Mackintosh is a past Director of the Open University's inter-faculty Centre for Innovation, Knowledge and Development (IKD). She is member of INNOGEN. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. 

Impact and engagement

2022 Consultant for Institute of Economic Justice, Johannesburg, on localisation of medical manufacturing in Africa, with G. Banda, J Mugwagwa, A Mkwashi.

2017-18 Consultant for UNIDO, Vienna, on local production of pharmaceuticals in Africa.

2017 Consultant to BMZ, German Development Cooperation, on the implications for health system strengthening of local production of pharmaceuticals in Sub-Saharan Africa.

External collaborations

2022 Member, AHRC Health Disparities moderating panel.  

2019 Chair, GCRF commissioning panel: Education as a Driver of Sustainable Development.

2018 Chair, ESRC Roundtable, review of ESRC participation in the Health Systems Research Initiative.

2017-date Member, ESRC Peer Review College

2017 Invited presentation to Inter-Agency Pharmaceutical Coordination (IPC) Group (WHO-chaired)

2017 Invited expert, UNIDO expert group on supporting the pharmaceutical industry in Africa.

2017 Member,Medical Research Council: Antimicrobial Resistance Global Award 2017 Panel

2016  Member, Commissioning Panel on Tackling antimicrobial resistance: behaviour within and beyond the healthcare setting: ESRC-led.

2014-2016  Member of the Health Systems Research Initiative funding panel.

2007 Member, Health Systems Knowledge Network, Commission on Social Determinants of Health.

Publications

Upgrading under globalization in health-related industries in Tanzania: the case for dynamic industrial deepening (2022)
Wangwe, Samuel; Simonetti, Roberto; Tibandebage, Paula; Mackintosh, Maureen; Israel, Caroline and Mujinja, Phares G.M.
Innovation and Development, 12(3) (pp. 479-496)


Patients’ pathways to cancer care in Tanzania: documenting and addressing social inequalities in reaching a cancer diagnosis (2022)
Makene, Fortunata Songora; Ngilangwa, Richard; Santos, Cristina; Cross, Charlotte; Ngoma, Twalib; Mujinja, Phares G. M.; Wuyts, Marc and Mackintosh, Maureen
BMC Health Services Research, 22(1)


Local manufacturing, local supply chains and health security in Africa: lessons from COVID-19 (2021)
Banda, Geoffrey; Mugwagwa, Julius; Wanjala, Cecilia; Mackintosh, Maureen and Kale, Dinar
BMJ Global Health, 6, Article e006362(6)


Rethinking health sector procurement as developmental linkages in East Africa (2018-03-31)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Tibandebage, Paula; Karimi Njeru, Mercy; Kariuki Kungu, Joan; Israel, Caroline and Mujinja, Phares G.M.
Social Science & Medicine, 200 (pp. 182-189)


Health-industry linkages for local health: reframing policies for African health system strengthening (2018)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Mugwagwa, Julius; Banda, Geoffrey; Tibandebage, Paula; Tunguhole, Jires; Wangwe, Samuel and Karimi Njeru, Mercy
Health Policy and Planning, 33(4) (pp. 602-610)


Can managers empower nurse-midwives to improve maternal health care? A comparison of two resource-poor hospitals in Tanzania (2016-11-10)
Tibandebage, Paula; Kida, Tausi; Mackintosh, Maureen and Ikingura, Joyce
International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 31(4) (pp. 379-395)


What is the private sector? Understanding private provision in the health systems of low-income and middle-income countries. (2016-08-06)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Channon, Amos; Karan, Anup; Selvaraj, Sakthivel; Zhao, Hongwen and Cavagnero, Eleonora
The Lancet, 388(10044) (pp. 596-605)


Local production of pharmaceuticals in Africa and access to essential medicines: 'urban bias’ in access to imported medicines in Tanzania and its policy implications (2014-03-10)
Mujinja, Phares G. M.; Mackintosh, Maureen; Justin-Temu, Mary and Wuyts, Marc
Globalization and Health, 10(12) (pp. 1-12)


People and teams matter in organizational change: professionals’ and managers’ experiences of changing governance and incentives in Primary Care (2014-02)
Allan, Helen T.; Brearley, Sally; Byng, Richard; Christian, Sara; Clayton, Julie; Mackintosh, Maureen; Price, Linnie; Smith, Pam and Ross, Fiona
Health Services Research, 49(1) (pp. 93-112)


Protecting the public or setting the bar too high? Understanding the causes and consequences of regulatory actions of frontline regulators and specialized drug shop operators in Kenya (2013-11)
Wafula, Francis; Molyneaux, Catherine; Mackintosh, Maureen and Goodman, Catherine
Social Science & Medicine, 97 (pp. 220-227)


Financial and clinical risk in health care reform: a view from below (2012-04-01)
Smith, Pam; Mackintosh, Maureen; Ross, Fiona; Clayton, Julie; Price, Linnie; Christian, Sara; Byng, Richard and Allan, Helen
Journal of Health Services Research and Policy, 17(Supp 2) (pp. 11-17)


Can NGOs regulate medicines markets? Social enterprise in wholesaling, and access to essential medicines (2011)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Chaudhuri, Sudip and Mujinja, Phares G.M.
Globalization and Health, 7, Article 4(1)


Commercial influence and global nongovernmental public action in health and pharmaceutical policies (2011)
Koivusalo, Meri and Mackintosh, Maureen
International Journal of Health Services, 41(3) (pp. 539-563)


Markets and policy challenges in access to essential medicines for endemic disease (2010-11)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Mujinja, Phares G. M.
Journal of African Economies, 19(Sup 3) (iii166-iii200)


Maternal mortality in Africa: a gendered lens on health system failure (2010-10)
Tibandebage, Paula and Mackintosh, Maureen
Socialist Register, 46


Indian generics producers, access to essential medicines and local production in Africa: an argument with reference to Tanzania (2010)
Chaudhuri, Sudip; Mackintosh, Maureen and Mujinja, Phares G M
European Journal of Development Research, 22(4) (pp. 451-468)


Global public health security: inequality, vulnerability and public health system capabilities (2008-11)
Koivusalo, Meri and Mackintosh, Maureen
Development and Change, 39(6) (pp. 1163-1169)


Profession, market and class: Nurse migration and the remaking of division and disadvantage (2007-12)
Smith, Pam and Mackintosh, Maureen
Journal of Clinical Nursing, 16(12) (pp. 2213-2220)


Promoting innovation, productivity and industrial growth and reducing poverty: bridging the policy gap. Introduction to the Special Issue (2007-03)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Chataway, Joanna and Wuyts, Marc
European Journal of Development Research, 19(1) (pp. 1-12)


Competitive and organisational constraints on innovation, investment and quality of care in a liberalised low income health system: evidence from Tanzania (2007-03)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Tibandebage, Paula
European Journal of Development Research, 19(1) (pp. 81-99)


Aid, restitution and international fiscal redistribution in health care: implications of health professionals' migration (2006-08)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Mensah, Kwadwo; Henry, Leroi and Rowson, Michael
Journal of International Development, 18(6) (pp. 757-770)


Commercialisation, inequality and transition in health care: the policy challenges in developing and transitional countries (2006-04)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Kovalev, Sergey
Journal of International Development, 18(3) (pp. 387-391)


Commercialisation, inequality and the limits to transition in health care: a Polanyian framework for policy analysis (2006-04)
Mackintosh, Maureen
Journal of International Development, 18(3) (pp. 393-406)


The market shaping of charges, trust and abuse: health care transactions in Tanzania (2005-10)
Tibandebage, Paula and Mackintosh, Maureen
Social Science & Medicine, 61(7) (pp. 1385-1395)


Inclusion by design? Rethinking health care market regulation in the Tanzanian context (2002-10)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Tibandebage, Paula
Journal of Development Studies, 39(1) (pp. 1-20)


Partnership: issues of policy and negotiation (1992-11-01)
Mackintosh, Maureen
Local Economy, 7(3) (pp. 210-224)


The Cancer Care Challenge in the Light of Pandemic Experience (2024-01)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Banda, Geoffrey; Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Srinivas, Smita and Makene, Fortunata Sangora
In: Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Srinivas, Smita and Makene, Fortunata Sangora eds. Cancer Care in Pandemic Times: Building inclusive local health security in Africa and India. International Political Economy Series (pp. 3-23)
ISBN : ISBN 978-3-031-44123-3 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Switzerland


Access to Cancer Care: navigating the maze (2024)
Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Mackintosh, Maureen; Ngilangwa, Richard; Mokua, Sharon; Arun, Richard Mutisya and Mukami, Jane
In: Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Srinivas, Smita and Makene, Fortunata Sangora eds. Cancer Care in Pandemic Times: Building inclusive local health security in Africa and India. International Political Economy Series (pp. 69-92)
ISBN : ISBN 978-3-031-44123-3 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Switzerland


Oncology Drug Production in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Challenge and Opportunity, with Evidence from India (2024)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Chaudhuri, Sudip; Mohamed, Nazeem; Wangwe, Samuel; Ngoma, Twalib and Manduku, Veronica
In: Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Njeru, Mercy; Srinivas, Smita and Makene, Fortunata Sangora eds. Cancer Care in Pandemic Times: Building inclusive local health security in Africa and India. International Political Economy Series (pp. 163-188)
ISBN : ISBN 978-3-031-44123-3 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Switzerland


Innovation and Policy in Cancer Pain Management: Systemic Interactions in Tanzania (2024)
Daniels, Chux; Steenmans, Ine; Makene, Fortunata Songora; Ngilangwa, Richard; Ngoma, Twalib; Santos, Cristina and Mackintosh, Maureen
In: Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Srinivas, Smita and Makene, Fortunata Songora eds. Cancer Care in Pandemic Times: Building inclusive local health security in Africa and India. International Political Economy Series (pp. 265-287)
ISBN : 978-3-031-44123-3 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Switzerland


Manufacturing for Cancer Care in East Africa: Raising the Ambition (2024)
Manduku, Veronica; Wangwe, Samuel; Wanjala, Cecilia; Maureen, Mackintosh and Ngilangwa, Richard
In: Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Srinivas, Smita and Makene, Fortunata Songora eds. Cancer Care in Pandemic Times: Building inclusive local health security in Africa and India. International Political Economy Series (pp. 139-162)
ISBN : ISBN 978-3-031-44123-3 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Switzerland


Conclusion: Better Cancer Care and Greater Local Health Security: Lessons, Opportunities and Ways Forward (2024)
Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Srinivas, Smita; Chataway, Joanna and Makene, Fortunata Songora
In: Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Makene, Fortunata Songora and Srinivas, Smita eds. Cancer Care in Pandemic Times: Building Inclusive Local Health Security in Africa and India. International Political Economy Series (IPES) (pp. 315-326)
ISBN : 978-3-031-44122-6 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Cham, Switzerland


Starting from here: Challenges in planning for better health care in Tanzania (2018)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Tibandebage, Paula
In: Bhan, Gautam; Srinivas, Smita and Watson, Vanessa eds. The Routledge Companion to Planning in the Global South
ISBN : 9781138932814 | Publisher : Routledge (Taylor and Francis) | Published : Abingdon, UK


NGOs, consumer rights and access to essential medicines: non-governmental public action in a low-income market context (2013-03-28)
Mujinja, Phares G.M.; Koivusalo, Meri; Mackintosh, Maureen and Chaudhuri, Sudip
In: Howell, Jude ed. Non-Governmental Public Action and Social Justice. Non-Governmental Public Action Series (pp. 112-135)
ISBN : 978-0-230-29036-5 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Basingstoke


Competitive and organisational constraints on innovation, investment and quality of care in a liberalised low-income health system: evidence from Tanzania (2008)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Tibandebage, Paula
In: Mackintosh, Maureen; Chataway, Joanna and Wuyts, Marc eds. Promoting Innovation, Productivity and Industrial Growth and Reducing Poverty
ISBN : 978-0-415-46528-1 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London


International migration and extreme health inequality: robust arguments and institutions for international redistribution in health care (2007)
Mackintosh, Maureen
In: McIntyre, Di and Mooney, Gavin eds. The Economics of Health Equity (pp. 151-173)
ISBN : 978-0-521-70506-6 | Publisher : Cambridge University Press | Published : Cambridge, UK


Gender and health sector reform: analytical perspectives on African experience (2006)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Tibandebage, Paula
In: Razavi, Shahra and Hassim, Shireen eds. Gender and Social Policy in a Global Context: Uncovering the Gendered Structure of 'the Social'. Social Policy in a Development Context Series (pp. 237-257)
ISBN : 140399630X | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Basingstoke, UK


La commercialisation des soins de santé et ses inégalités (2006)
Mackintosh, Maureen
In: Coméliau, Christian; Guilloz, Stéphane; Carton, Michel; Flückiger, Yves; Mackintosh, Maureen and Merrien, François Xavier eds. Le Défi Social du Développement: Globalisation et Inégalités (pp. 153-174)
ISBN : 2845867921 | Publisher : Institut Universitaire d'Etudes du Développement and Editions Karthala | Published : Geneva and Paros


Public expenditure allocation and incidence under health care market liberalization: a Tanzanian casestudy (2005)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Kida, Tausi Mbaga
In: Mackintosh, Maureen and Koivusalo, Meri eds. Commercialization of Health Care: Global and Local Dynamics and Policy Responses. Social Policy in a Development Context Series (pp. 267-283)
ISBN : 1403943494 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Basingstoke, UK


Inequality and redistribution in health care: analytical issues for developmental social policy (2004)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Tibandebage, Paula
In: Mkandawire, Thandika ed. Social Policy in a Development Context. Social Policy in a Development Context Series (pp. 143-174)
ISBN : 1403936609 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Basingstoke, UK


Non-market relationships in Health Care (2002-09-19)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Gilson, Lucy
In: Heyer, Judith; Stewart, Frances and Thorp, Rosemary eds. Group behaviour and development: is the market destroying co-operation?. WIDER Studies in Development Economics (pp. 253-270)
ISBN : 199256926 | Publisher : Oxford University Press | Published : Oxford, UK


Institutional cultures and regulatory relationships in a liberalising health care system: a Tanzanian case study (2002)
Tibandebage, Paula and Mackintosh, Maureen
In: Heyer, Judith; Stewart, Frances and Thorp, Rosemary eds. Group Behaviour and Development: Is the Market Destroying Cooperation?. Wider Studies in Development Economics (pp. 271-289)
ISBN : 9780199256921 | Publisher : Oxford University Press | Published : Oxford, UK


Do health care systems contribute to inequality? (2000-11)
Mackintosh, Maureen
In: Leon, David and Walt, Gill eds. Poverty, Inequality and Health: An International Perspective (pp. 175-193)
ISBN : 978-0-19-263196-1 | Publisher : Oxford University Press | Published : Oxford


Cancer Care in Pandemic Times: Building Inclusive Local Health Security in Africa and India (2024)
Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Makene, Fortunata Songora and Srinivas, Smita eds.
International Political Economy Series
ISBN : ISBN 978-3-031-44123-3 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Cham, Switzerland


Making Medicines in Africa: The Political Economy of Industrializing for Local Health (2016)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Banda, Geoffrey; Tibandebage, Paula and Wamae, Watu eds.
International Political Economy
ISBN : 9781137571335 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : London


Promoting Innovation, Productivity and Industrial Growth and Reducing Poverty (2008)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Chataway, Joanna and Wuyts, Marc eds.
ISBN : 0-415-46528-1 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Oxon, UK


Le Défi Social du Développement: Globalisation et Inégalités (2006)
Coméliau, Christian; Guillioz, Stéphane; Carton, Michel; Flückiger, Yves; Mackintosh, Maureen and Merrien, François Xavier eds.
ISBN : 2845867921 | Publisher : Institut Universitaire d'Etudes du Développement and Editions Karthala | Published : Geneva and Paris


Commercialization of health care: global and local dynamics and policy responses (2005-09)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Koivusalo, Meri eds.
Social Policy in a Development Context
ISBN : 1403943494 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Basingstoke, UK


Perspectives of providers of cancer care in Tanzania: evidence and implications for policy (2023-03)
Cross, Charlotte; Makene, Fortunata Sangora; Mackintosh, Maureen; Ngilangwa, Richard Gordon; Santos, Cristina; Mujinja, Phares G. M. and Ngoma, Twalib
Economic and Social Research Foundation, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.


The Localisation of Medical Manufacturing in Africa (2022-11)
Banda, Geoffrey; Mugwagwa, Julius; Mackintosh, Maureen and Mkwashi, Andrew
Institute for Economic Justice, Johannesburg, South Africa.


Access to Cancer Care in Kenya: Patients’, Survivors’, Caregivers’ and Health Providers’ Perspectives (2021-12)
Njeru, Mercy K.; Cross, Charlotte; Nyandieka, Lilian; Wanjala, Cecilia; Mokua, Sharon N.; Mutisya, Richard; Santos, Cristina; Manduku, Veronica and Mackintosh, Maureen
Open University / ICCA, Nairobi, Kenya and Milton Keynes.


Cancer pain management in Tanzania: using scenarios to explore critical interrelationships and potential interventions (2021-04)
Steenmans, Ine; Daniels, Chux; Makene, Fortunata; Ngoma, Twalib; Mujinja, Phares GM; Mackintosh, Maureen; Cross, Charlotte; Ngilangwa, Richard and Chataway, Joanna
Economic and Social Research Foundation, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.


Local manufacturing for health in Africa in the time of Covid-19: experience and lessons for policy (2021-03-12)
Banda, Geoffrey; Mackintosh, Maureen; Kale, Dinar; Mugwagwa, Julius and Wanjala, Cecilia
DEGRP, Overseas Development Institute.


Cancer patients’ pathways: evidence and implications for policy (2020-08)
Makene, Fortunata Songora; Ngilangwa, Richard Gordon; Mackintosh, Maureen; Santos, Cristina; Cross, Charlotte; Mujinja, Phares G.M. and Ngoma, Twalib
Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), Innovation for Cancer Care in Africa (ICCA), The Open University


What would a gender-equal health service look like? How might we move towards it? (2020-07)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Smith, Pam and Towers, Bridget
Women's Budget Group, London.


Local production of pharmaceuticals and health system strengthening in Africa: An Evidence Brief (2017-07-07)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Mugwagwa, Julius; Banda, Geoffrey and Tunguhole, Jires
German Health Practice Collection (GHPC), Berlin.


Submission to the United Nations Secretary General's High Level Panel on Access to Medicines (2016-04)
Mackintosh, Maureen; Kale, Dinar; Orsenigo, Luigi and Simonetti, Roberto
United Nations


Health as a Productive Sector: Integrating Health and Industrial Policy (2016)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Tibandebage, Paula
Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.


Open University Submission : House of Commons International Development Select Committee : Inquiry into Health System Strengthening (2014-05)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Mugwagwa, Julius
Houses of Parliament, London, UK.


Planning and Market Regulation: Strengths, Weaknesses and Interactions in the Provision of Less Inequitable and Better Quality Health Care (2007-10)
Mackintosh, Maureen
Economics Department, The Open University


Planning and market regulation: strengths, weaknesses and interactions in the provision of less inequitable and better quality health care (2007-03)
Mackintosh, Maureen
Working Paper commissioned and accepted by the World Health Organisation's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, Health Systems Knowledge Network


The ‘Skills Drain’ of Health Professionals from the developing World:a Framework for Policy Formulation (2005-02)
Mensah, Kwadwo; Mackintosh, Maureen and Henry, Leroi
Medact, London.


Inequality and redistribution: analytical and empirical issues for developmental social policy (2001-03)
Mackintosh, Maureen
Economics Department, The Open University


Sustainable redistribution with health care markets? Rethinking regulatory intervention in the Tanzanian context (2000-11)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Tibandebage, Paula
Economics Department, The Open University


Non-market relationships in health care (2000-01)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Gilson, Lucy
Economics Department, The Open University


Managing Public Sector Reform: The Case of Health Care (1997)
Mackintosh, Maureen
Development Policy and Practice Research Group, Faculty of Technology, The Open University


Putting Words into People's Mouths? Economic Culture and its Implications for Local Governance (1995-12)
Mackintosh, Maureen
Economics Department, The Open University


Gender and Economic Policy in A Democratic South Africa (1991)
Ginwala, Frene; Mackintosh, Maureen and Massey, Doreen
Development Policy and Practice Research Group, Faculty of Technology, The Open University


Accumulation, Social Services and Socialist Transition in the Third World: Reflections on Decentralised Planning based on Mozambican Experience (1987)
Mackintosh, Maureen and Wuyts, Marc
Development Policy and Practice Research Group, Faculty of Technology, The Open University