News

Summaries of open source, health care, or health IT news and information from various sources on the web selected by Open Health News (OHNews) staff. Links are provided to the original news or information source, e.g. news article, web site, journal,blog, video, etc.

See the following -

Open-Source Everything: The Moral of the Healthcare.gov Debacle

Paul Ford | Business Week | October 16, 2013

The U.S. federal government, led by the executive branch, should make all taxpayer-funded software development open-sourced by default. In the short run, this would help to prevent the recurrence of problems like those that plague healthcare.gov. Longer term, it will lead to better, more secure software and could allow the government to deliver a range of services more effectively. And it would enrich democracy to boot. Read More »

Open-Source Hardware For Embedded Security

Geoffrey Ottoy, Bart Preneel, et. al. | EDN Network | February 4, 2013

Imagine you’re waiting in line, queuing to enter a major event. The ticket you have bought online is stored on your smart phone. As you swipe your phone over some designated area, an NFC connection is set up, your ticket is validated and the gates open to let you in. And the good thing is, that it all happened anonymously... Read More »

Open-Source Hardware Hacking Effort 'Smacked Down' By USB Overlords [UK]

Tony Smith | The Register | October 24, 2013

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the organisation that oversees the USB standard, has apparently sent the director of a small British electronics firm away with a flea in his ear for daring to suggest how it could make the lives of open-source hardware developers easier and cheaper.

Read More »

Open-Source Hardware In The Creative World

Suzanne Deffree & Jessica MacNeil | EDN Network | September 13, 2013

Open Hardware Summit attendees packed the Kresge Auditorium at MIT last Friday with eyes and minds wide open to hear from engineers and makers on their open-source designs and overall thinking on the concept of sharing ideas and knowledge. Read More »

Open-Source Hardware: Copy & Paste Empowerment

Caleb Kraft | EE Times | September 12, 2013

Last week I was privileged enough to speak at the Open Hardware Summit. It was a wonderful experience, and I hope to return again in the years to come. Read More »

Open-Source Kits Put Robots In Many Hands

John Titus | Design News | October 11, 2012

I recently received an interesting press release about Multiplo, a four-person startup seeking venture funds in small amounts to create and manufacture kits for anyone interested in robotics. Read More »

Open-Source Maps Of California’s Emergency Medical Agencies

Ben Welsh | Los Angeles Times | December 21, 2012

The [Los Angeles] Times is releasing free and open-source files that map out the boundaries of the regional agencies that regulate emergency medical services in California. The release coincides with a Times investigation published Friday that found that outdated technology has frustrated efforts by state officials to measure how well local agencies perform emergency rescues. Read More »

Open-Source Platform Gains Popularity In Government

Stuart Corner | The Age | September 24, 2013

So popular has a little-known open-source program become within federal government agencies that there is now a shortage of expertise in Canberra. Read More »

Open-Source Project to Help Foil BioTerrorists

Dr. Dobbs | Dr. Dobb's Journal | March 22, 2011

A software package designed to minimize the potential risks of synthetic biology for the nation's defense and security is now available to the gene synthesis industry and synthetic biology community in an open-source format. Virginia Tech has licensed GenoTHREAT, a software tool that helps detect the use of synthetic DNA as bioterrorism agents. Developed as an open-source project by a team led by Jean Peccoud, associate professor at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, it is being released using the Apache License Version 2.0 to ensure broad accessibility.

Read More »

Open-Source Science Helps Father's Genetic Quest

Lisa M. Krieger | MedicalXpress | October 26, 2012

One tiny flaw in one gene in one little girl. That explains why Beatrice Rienhoff, 8, is so lean and leggy. But it took the communal contributions of many researchers - in an open-ended, open-source scientific search, led by her father - to solve Bea's singular mystery. Read More »

Open-Source Seeds Challenge Monsanto, Support International Day Of Farmers' Struggles

M. Jahi Chappell | Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy | April 16, 2014

Tomorrow, Thursday, April 17, the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) will release over 29 seed varieties into the global commons and humanity's “moral economy.” This new initiative hopes to provide a counterweight to private patenting of seeds, which has undermined farmers’ rights around the world. Read More »

Open-Source Software Designed to Minimize Synthetic Biology Risks

Press Release | Virginia Tech | March 22, 2011

According to a report from Virginia Tech, a software package designed to minimize the potential risks of synthetic biology for the nation's defence and security is now available to the gene synthesis industry and synthetic biology community in an open-source format.Virginia Tech has licensed GenoTHREAT, a software tool that helps detect the use of synthetic DNA as bioterrorism agents. Developed as an open-source project by a team led by Jean Peccoud, associate professor at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, it is being released using the Apache License Version 2.0 to ensure broad accessibility.

Read More »

Open-Source Software Suite Aims To Improve Breast Health Management

Susan D. Hall | FierceHealthIT | August 31, 2012

An open-source software suite to be rolled out across Nova Scotia early next year could improve breast health management worldwide, its creators say in a UICC research summary.
The Breast Imaging Electronic Medical Record (BIEMR) comes from 20 years of work to fill voids in proprietary software offerings, according to Mohamed Abdolell, an associate professor in the radiology department at Dalhousie University. Read More »

Open-Source Software: Could This Be The Glue That Holds The NHS Together?

Geraint Lewis | Nuffield Trust | October 6, 2010

Good news stories don’t come around that often for Connecting for Health [...]. But I think I might have found one in the making.  This month marks the mid-way point in a two-year project to build an “open-source community” for the NHS. Read More »

Open-Source Solves Big-Data Problems: Talking To 'Mr. Hadoop,' Doug Cutting

Cesar Orosco | Forbes | January 16, 2013

As big data continues to push and stretch the limits of conventional technologies, Hadoop emerges as an innovative, transformative, cost-effective solution. Read More »