The importance of using open source technologies and common standards for interoperability within eHealth: perspectives from the Millennium Villages Project.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate the importance of using open source technologies and common standards for interoperability when implementing eHealth systems, and to illustrate this through case studies, where possible.


METHODS
The sources used to inform this chapter draw from the implementation and evaluation of the eHealth Program in the context of the Millennium Villages Project (MVP).


RESULTS
As the eHealth Team was tasked to deploy an eHealth architecture, the Millennium Villages Global-Network (MVG-Net), across all 14 of the MVP sites in sub-Saharan Africa, the team not only recognized the need for standards and uniformity but also realized that context would be an important factor. Therefore, the team decided to utilize open source solutions.


CONCLUSIONS
The MVP implementation of MVG-Net provides a model for those looking to implement informatics solutions across disciplines and countries. Furthermore, there are valuable lessons learned that the eHealth community can benefit from.


CONCLUSIONS
By sharing lessons learned and developing an accessible, open source eHealth platform, we believe that we can more efficiently and rapidly achieve the health-related and collaborative Millennium Development Goals.
Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Andrew S
AS
Kanter
Rob
R
Borland
Mourice
M
Barasa
Casey
C
Iiams-Hauser
Olivia
O
Velez
Nadi Nina
NN
Kaonga
Matt
M
Berg
D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D003199:Computer Systems; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D007391:International Cooperation; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000592:standards*; D011203:Poverty; D012424:Rural Population; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000592:standards*