Launch of the OpenSRP Governance Structure
On 11 March 2021, Ona had hosted 60+ partners, donors and implementers during the virtual launch of the OpenSRP Governance Structure. The purpose of this meritocratic structure for OpenSRP is to further inclusivity and wider participation whilst giving structure to the technology, design, product and implementation work happening.
The event started with five powerful reflections from OpenSRP implementers, including mPower Social (Bangladesh), Summit Institute for Development (Indonesia), DTree International (Tanzania), Akros (Zambia, Thailand, Namibia), and UNICEF (five countries in West Africa). They shared stories of adapting and using OpenSRP across various health domains to bring equitable access to healthcare to millions of people. The feedback on these reflections were that they were powerful pieces of history that offered guidance to newer partners on how implementers have gone down the road of adapting and using OpenSRP in unique local contexts.
The meeting continued with the Ona’s CEO, Matt Berg, giving technical and implementation highlights. The grant Ona received from PATH and Digital Square allowed us to do four things: (1) formally file a trademark application for OpenSRP in the USA, (2) launch a new version of the OpenSRP website, (3) develop an OpenSRP web platform that allows for easy user and location management, and (4) launch the governance structure.
In terms of item number 1, Matt gave an update that although the trademark application was filed by Ona in the USA, should the community decide to register a new OpenSRP entity (i.e. a non profit or a foundation), the trademark ownership could be transferred from Ona to the new OpenSRP legal entity.
We then went on to introduce the structure’s chairman, Matt Berg, and two committees: the PMC (the project management committee) and the PTC (the product /technical committee). We gave an update on our work over the past months to make the broader community aware of the process we are embarking on such as how and where people could nominate themselves for the structure’s committees; the process of voting and the process of overlaying the community’s votes with having fair representation of partners and being inclusive. In order to also make more people aware that perhaps could not attend the event, here are the names of the committee members again:
Members of the PMC (Project Management Committee) are:
- Anna Winters – Akros – USA – Donor / Implementor
- Andre Lesa – BlueCode Ltd – Zambia – Technical partner
- Anne Liu – CHAI – USA – Donor / Implementor
- Alain Labrique – Johns Hopkins University – USA – Academic partner / Implementor
- Anuraj Shankar – SID – Indonesia – Academic partner / Implementor
- Carl Fourie – PATH/ Digital Square – South Africa – Donor
- Carolyn Footitt – Ona – UK – Health Solutions Lead for OpenSRP (at Ona)
- David Hershberg – Dtree International – USA – Donor / Implementor
- Muzzamil Hussain – VentureDive – Pakistan – Technical partner
- Mridul Chowdhury – mPower Social – Bangladesh – Technical partner
- Nicholas Gordon – Last Mile Health – USA – Donor / Implementor
- Peter Lubell-Doughtie – Ona – USA – CTO for Ona and OpenSRP (at Ona)
- Pierre Dane – Vitalwave Consulting and Digital Solutions for Malaria Elimination (DSME) Consortium – South Africa – Technical partner
- Sean Blaschke – UNICEF – Kenya – Donor / Implementor
- Sunday Morabu – Softmed – Tanzania – Technical Partner.
Members of the PTC (The Product / Technical Committee) are:
- Devasish Choudhury – mPower Social – Bangladesh – Technical partner
- Hawi Bedasa – UNICEF – Region of West and Central Africa – Senegal – Donor/ Implementor
- Kelsey Alland – Johns Hopkins University – USA – Academic partner / Implementor
- Maimoona Kausar – VentureDive – Pakistan – Technical partner
- Martin Ndegwa – Ona – Kenya – OpenSRP Engineering Lead (at Ona)
- Roger Wong – Ona – USA – Design Lead for Ona and OpenSRP (at Ona)
- Samuel Githengi – Microsoft – Kenya (previous OpenSRP Engineering lead at Ona) – Technical advisor
- Sergio Jarne – Dtree International – Tanzania – Donor/ Implementor
- Annisa Dwi Utami (Tami) – SID – Indonesia – Implementor
- Varshana Rajasekaran – CHAI – Malaysia – Technical Partner and Implementer
After that, Matt Berg gave a strategy update for maturing OpenSRP as a global goods product. A key mission is becoming fully FHIR compliant and working with partners like Google and the World Health Organization to build the first FHIR Android SDK (software development kit).
The next steps for the governance structure is for communication channels and the meeting schedule for the year to be confirmed and set up, and for the two committees to officially start their work.
We want to thank all those that attended the launch event; all those that gave their reflections; all those that use OpenSRP in their daily work, and as such we end with three cheers to:
- OpenSRP’s new governance structure; our two new committees; and all those that agreed to serve on them;
- All frontline health workers that work tirelessly to bring access to healthcare to people;
- To our continued mission to bring equitable access to healthcare to those that need it most.
If you’d like to listen to the recording of the Zoom call, or receive a copy of the presentation we used in the meeting, please pop us an email: info@ona.io.