Hello, We are starting a 501c3 non-profit foundation to advance FOSS in healthcare. Here is our "mission statement":
To improve the quality of healthcare through the advancement of Free and Open Source Medical Software. The Free Medical Software Foundation will encourage the use of Free and Open Source software by sponsoring development, education and Health IT initiatives. So far this is a project that both I and Ignacio Valdes have committed to. In order to make the FMSF as transparent as possible, Ignacio and I will be taking public nominations for Board of Directors and Board of Advisers positions. We have already invited people we know we want to be involved in the BOD, and we will potentially pass on nominations without giving any reasons for doing so. However, we want the communities input even at this initial stage. For all BOD and BOA members, we have a preference for either technical expertise, or clinical expertise. We also strongly prefer 'do'ers to 'talk'ers. We like short meetings. BOD members: Must be committed to the FOSS health software movement as a whole, as opposed to being associated strongly with a particular project or company. We hope that the BOD members will be well-known community members who instantly command respect. BOD members will get a formal vote on the actions of FMSF. BOA members: Are committed to the advancement of a particular project or effort within the community. We will be inviting people who are associated with either proprietary and FOSS companies, but who are making a significant contribution to health FOSS in some fashion. BOA will not get a vote on the actions of FMSF. Now, I am sure many of you will wonder "What exactly should this organization do?" or "Is this organization in competition with organization X?" I have specific answers to none of those types of questions. Ignacio and I have several initiatives that are critically important to the community that do not work well without a non-profit behind them. We will be supporting and/or hosting conferences. We will pursing funding for the purposes of sponsoring development on important projects. Besides that, we want to have an organization that can be used to scratch our collective FOSS in healthcare itch. What else that will mean will depend in large part on who you suggest as BOD members. So, this is not an opportunity to discuss what the FMSF will be doing, as much as who gets to make that decision. In short, who does the community at large trust. Who represents our communities ideals and values? Who would therefore make a good BOD member? What projects are important enough that we should invite their community members specifically to the BOA? Feel free to nominate or volunteer now. Please give some detail on why you would make a good candidate. -- Fred Trotter http://www.fredtrotter.com