Global Health Delivery 2.0: Open-Sourcing Global Development

by Mike Smith · 2009-12-05 08:35:00 UTC
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Aid workers in the developing world are about to get a boost through "simple, free, easy-to-learn systems that are powered by the open and collaborative nature of the Web 2.0 strategy," reports the biomedical journal PLoS Medicine. They report on work physicians and epidemiologists from Harvard, Yale, and UCSF, affiliated with the non-profit organization Nyaya Health are doing to implement web 2.0 strategies into health projects.

In one project, Nyaya Health is operating a hospital in Nepal. Despite telecommunication challenges, the health non-profit has developed strategies that need little bandwidth or up-to-date computing infrastructure. Nyaya Health is using web 2.0 products like wikis, real-time maps, and blogs to quickly and efficiently communicate with colleagues; they further explain that "Developing common standards will improve clinical effectiveness and resource allocation to build a truly rigorous and innovative science of global health delivery."

Merely slapping web 2.0 software on to computing system in the hope that it'll be improved by openness and transparency is folly, but for healthcare who rely on efficient communication with peers for the development of public health practice, web 2.0 isn't a just a buzz-word, but a potential life-saver.

Photo credit: J.Reed

Mike Smith
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