Linux Foundation Launches Open Health Stack Software Foundation to Expand Open-Source Digital Health Infrastructure
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The foundation has also introduced an Implementer Program that enables startups, local businesses and developers from LMICs to participate in governance.
The Linux Foundation has announced the creation of the Open Health Stack Software Foundation (OHS-SF), a new community-governed organization designed to advance open-source software for digital health.
Supported by WHO, Google and a coalition of technology, healthcare and research organizations, the foundation has been created to help developers build interoperable, standards-based and AI-enabled healthcare applications while addressing health equity challenges worldwide.
Originally introduced by Google Research in collaboration with WHO in 2023, Open Health Stack offers reusable software components based on internationally recognized health standards.
Google has now transferred the entire Open Health Stack project, including its codebase and related assets, to the Linux Foundation to ensure long-term, community-led development.
Google.org has also committed a $3 Mn grant to support the foundation's growth and implementation efforts.
The foundation will focus on three core technical areas: strengthening HL7 FHIR-based digital health infrastructure, expanding the Open Health Stack Player as a cross-platform deployment toolkit, and developing AI Commons, a model-agnostic collaborative environment co-developed with WHO to support safe, transparent and verifiable AI for healthcare.
"The Open Health Stack Software Foundation brings together the global community of developers, health organizations, and implementers under a vendor-neutral, community-governed home, ensuring that the tools powering tomorrow's AI-enabled health systems are built in the open, for everyone," said Jim Zemlin, CEO of the Linux Foundation.
Google said the transition ensures that Open Health Stack evolves beyond a single organization's ownership while expanding its reach across the global digital health ecosystem.
"We built Open Health Stack because we wanted to put the developers and community health care workers serving people on the edges of care back at the center of development and give them access to world-class tools for building next-gen digital health solutions," said Kat Chou, Vice President at Google Research.
"OHS-SF makes it easier for developers everywhere to innovate on the next generation of digital health applications, and we're proud to support its long-term success," she added.
WHO will contribute technical guidance to ensure the foundation remains aligned with global health standards, including HL7 FHIR, ICD classifications and WHO SMART Guidelines.
More than 20 organizations, including Microsoft, Anthropic, PATH, OpenMRS, Medtronic Labs, Clinton Health Access Initiative and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, have expressed support for the initiative.
The foundation has also introduced an Implementer Program that enables startups, local businesses and developers from low- and middle-income countries to participate in governance without financial barriers, reinforcing its focus on inclusive and locally driven digital health innovation.
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