openIMIS has been developed – and continues to evolve – through an open and collaborative process. Users, developers and implementers spread across the world are all part of the openIMIS community. They provide suggestions for new features, report and address technical glitches, and provide expert support to other users. In the openIMIS community, knowledge and expertise are diversified, rather than concentrated in a few hands. Anyone can contribute – and everyone benefits in return.

Elements of the community

Steering Group

A Steering Group defines the overall strategic direction of the openIMIS Initiative and allocates resources for software development and implementations. It is made up of representatives of openIMIS’s main funders: the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC).

Coordination Desk

The Coordination Desk operationalises the defined strategic direction, administers budgets and oversees committee activities.

Regional Hubs

The openIMIS Initiative has two regional hubs in Asia (Asian eHealth Information Network) and Africa (Jembi). Regional hubs support the community at a regional level and facilitate training and capacity development. They also act as a bridge between local and global levels.

Developers Committee

The Developers Committee develops, maintains and supports the core source code of openIMIS at global level.

Implementers Committee

The Implementers Committee provides analysis and advice to scheme operators and policy makers, produces training materials and submits functional requirements to the issue queue for openIMIS.

Toumai Community

Toumai is a French-speaking openIMIS sub-community which provides information and support to health financing and social protection programs in Francophone countries that are preparing to implement the software.

Stakeholder Committee

The Stakeholder Committee helps to guide and facilitate the journey of openIMIS as a digital public good. It does this by growing the openIMIS community of practice, building a robust yet flexible software product, and increasing the scope and number of implementations.