Notes and Presentations
Various conference presentations on OSS related topics.
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Open Source Software in Education - the 4CInitiative
- A presentation by Mel McIntyre on Open Source Software in Education for The 4C Initiative, a series of projects aimed at increasing digital content capacity for education on a global scale
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Notes from Open Source in European Healthcare at Porto
- Mel McIntyre attended the OSS in European Healthcare in Porto Portugal Although there was the usual small attendance at the Open Source in European Healthcare workshop, the quality was good and the exercise probably worthwhile. My goal was to meet people interested in Open Source in Health, to see some projects and to demonstrate HealthAtlas.
EPractice.eu Award
Health Atlas Ireland, an Open Source application to analyse health related datasets using geographical information systems (GIS) and statistical software, was one of twenty projects that were given the 'Prime Minister Public Service Excellence Award'. The awards were handed out last month by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.
Health Atlas Ireland is based on the Open Source content management system Plone and the Open Source application server Zope. It was selected for the Award because of its capacity to innovate and its technical perfection, writes Zeapartners, a network of companies involved in Plone and Zope. "This innovative Irish project greatly improves the quality and the efficiency of services delivered by health services."
According to Zeapartners, the Health Atlas Ireland application is easily transferable to other organisations. "Its potential for replication is enormous. This project opens the way to international software collaboration. The development of such software sharing initiatives helps underpin the sustainability of public services and makes a real difference now and into the future."
The e-Government project Health Atlas Ireland is a joint Health Service Executive and academic initiative. In its presentation, Health Atlas Ireland writes: "In the absence of an off-the-shelf solution, a new system was designed and developed. An EU restricted tendering process selected OpenApp and Siemens Ireland as development partners."
It integrates geographical information technologies, database software and statistical techniques. A user friendly interface supports web-enabled access across the Irish health sector and collaborating agencies. Health Atlas Ireland enables controlled access to maps, data and analyses for service planning and delivery, major incident response, epidemiology and research to improve the health of patients, their families and the population.
© European Communities 2008
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
The views expressed are not an official position of the European Commission.
Links
Open Source in Healthcare
We believe OSS could make a serious contribution to the delivery of healthcare in Ireland and the UK, primarily through the adoption of VA Vista, the US Veterans Administration EHR software, and also through OSCAR, MyOSCAR, Tolven, Mirth and other freely available, proven software applications.
VistA electronic health record and health information system
In January 2010 we co-organised the Connected Health Conference at the Spires in Belfast featuring Joseph Dal Molin and Colin Smyth of WorldVistA alongside Gerard Hurl and Dr Howard Johnson of the Irish Health Service Executive and other notable speakers from the health service in Ireland and the UK.
ZEA Partners - Zope and Plone advocacy
Zea Partners (Zea) is a non-profit network for companies involved in the creation and development of Zope, Plone and Silva systems.
Zea is a transnational organization that conducts professional-quality business with a social return. We complete the virtuous cycle between the people that need Plone / Zope and the people that make Plone / Zope, creating an open source business that works, together.
OpenApp have been members and supporters of ZEA Partners since 2005.
www.zeapartners.org
Openforum europe - OpenIreland
OpenApp have actively advocated the use of Open Source Software (OSS) and Open Standards since 2002. For a number of years we sponsored and led OpenIreland, an Irish partner of Openforum europe, organising and participating in events and conferences, contributing to media discussion, providing input to Government policy and generally raising awareness of the value of OSS to Ireland.
Mel McIntyre has been a Non Executive Director of Openforum europe (OFE) since 2002. Openforum europe is a not-for-profit industry organization which was originally launched in 2002 to accelerate and broaden the use of Open Source Software (OSS) among businesses, consumers and governments. OFE's role has since evolved and its primary role now is to promote the use of open standards in ICT as a means of achieving full openness and interoperability of computer systems throughout Europe. It continues to promote open source software, as well as openness more generally as part of a vision to facilitate open, competitive choice for IT users.
OpenIreland - a place for Open Source in Ireland
Aims – To promote and support the implementation of Open Source Software technologies and solutions in business and the public sector in all Ireland through advocacy efforts on OSS related issues and through services offered through our portal - NOW CLOSED