There are a lot of questions, but I'll give it a go...
Andrew po-jung Ho a �crit :
>
> [SNIP]
>
> What happens after 15 months? What happens to all the information amassed? It will
>be a shame to lose the resources after 15 months. What is the "exit" strategy?
Although the project (including constructing the site) is 15 months
long, the site is permanent.
The project partners are all in the open source software business.
Keeping the site active, interesting, and growing is part of our long
term business plans. The site is an e-commerce site that will be selling
open source products and services.
We are already in discussion with several interested groups to host
mirrors or partial mirrors in different parts of the world. In addition
to speeding access, this reduces both technical and business risks.
> ...
>
> >3) The "meeting place" will be a specialized server offering services to
> >open source health care projects. The services include open source
> >dissemination of research results, site hosting, developer tools such as
> >CVS, communication tools, mailing lists, groupware applications, and
> >audio/video conferencing.
>
> Will you be using the Sourceforge software as a starting point or something else? It
>seems to overlap with what Sourceforge does already.
Although the decision is not final, we will probably use the sourceforge
software for part of the site.
A key issue for health care delivery organizations and regulatory bodies
is the tracibility of software changes and the qualifications/identity
of the personnel modifying the software. We expect that some projects
hosted at the site will need strong controls so we need to select tools
that can meet these needs.
We also know that some open source health care resources are in MUMPS/M,
and, as far as I know, no-one has yet used sourceforge for a MUMPS/M
project. There may be additional issues and/or tools needed here.
I'd be interested in comments from the list membership on these topics.
>
> The issue of 15-month limit is again very critical here. What do you want to deliver
>within the 15 months and what / how will this 15 month contribute to a longer term
>support for open health activities?
>
> For example, are you really going to provide video conference within the 15 month?
We expect to accomplish the four goals listed in my mail within the 15
month period.
The key thing for the "meeting place" is to provide the services most
desired by the people meeting there. Live multiway video conferencing
requires special hardware by the participants, but video reception and
audio conferencing can be handled by most PCs. We will provide the best
available open source tools to meet the needs of the projects hosted at
the site. This includes video services.
>
> >A key resource is a multilingual (English, French, German, Italian, and
> >Spanish) index of available open source software with links to
> >evaluations in the health care setting.
>
> Sourceforge has some multi-lingual support. How will you be providing multi-lingual
>support? For example, will you be able to help with translating OIO documentation
>into some of the European languages?
The index will contain a summary of each project that will be
translated. The translations will be available to the project teams for
their own use.
Another service envisioned for the site is "matchmaking" and tools to
help find project participants with special skills. So, in this way, we
may help you find translators for OIO documentation.
>
> The "evaluations" part may require a separate effort all together.
I agree.
We will be categorizing the resources in the index. Part of this
categorization is linking to published evaluations of the software
completed by the project team, independent sources, and/or users of the
software.
Software produced by research projects, such as the EC 5th framework
programme, usually includes extensive evaluation and dissemination of
results.
The 5th Framework and other research programmes include funding for
serious evaluations of new technology in health care settings. We would
be happy to participate in projects that create an "evidence base" for
the cost and outcomes impact of specific open source technology, by
partnering with care delivery and research organizations in different
parts of the world. We feel that these evaluations are key to bringing
open source health care software to its full potential.
>
> [SNIP]
>
> >4) Open source resources will be disseminated via the Internet and CD
> >distribution. Business plans will be created for deploying selected
> >resources in European markets on a commercial basis. This means plans
> >and consortia for making selected open source products comply with
> >national and regional regulations and effectively compete against
> >existing market participants and/or create new markets.
>
> Sounds good but not exactly sure how it will work. Does this mean you may be able to
>help me distribute and support OIO commercially?
Yes, this is the business we are in. Distributing and supporting OIO or
other products commercially is not part of the SPIRIT project, but it is
part of our long term business plans.
>
> [SNIP]
>
> How will it differ from LinuxMedNews, Sourceforge, and the current openhealth
>mailing list?
Nothing in the project involves producing regular news articles, so
there is not much overlap with LinuxMedNews (except for the project
index).
It will differ from sourceforge in focussing on the special requirements
of health care software and informatics research.
The OpenHealth mailing list will continue but may migrate to the SPIRIT
site.
>
> >At the moment, you can help us by pointing us at European groups that we
> >should approach to find additional software and information resources.
>
> I really think you should consider creating a "testing lab" to produce trust-worthy,
>high quality information about resources and products. It takes more than finding
>software and resources to have useful information. In fact, misleading and inaccurage
>information are frequently propagated. Minoru and LinuxMedNews already maintain lists
>of open health projects and resources. However, as the list grows longer, some of the
>projects are no longer active.
The testing lab is a good idea -- see comments above about evaluations.
Maybe there is another project here if we can find the right partners.
I agree with your comments about the lists becoming out of date. We have
some ideas for categorization to help users of the index know the
current status of indexed projects, but this would be another good topic
for the list to discuss.
>
> >We are also looking for specific ideas and help to get your projects
> >well presented on the CD.
>
> What CD?
> ...
Part of the project is to create a CD distribution of open source health
care resources for research purposes and to accelerate uptake and
improvement of open source resources. We expect to put a snapshot of
all projects that are interested onto the CD.
This acceleration is the primary long term objective of the project. We
feel that the specific project goals are the right ones to accelerate
from where we are today.
All for now,
-Brian
