List of Open Questions from the OpenLMIS Community Meeting

Open Question	Answer	Those Present	Decision Date
When do we next meet around a common agenda? (GHSC?)
How do partners find funding for involvement in the OpenLMIS community? VillageReach is not interested in funding beyond support outlined in implementation models. BMGF isn’t interested in funding participation – they look at it as involvement in a community for shared benefit. Somewhat ameliorated by implementation models.
How does the OpenLMIS Community convey the business benefit of committing non-billable hours to participating in the community to individual partner organizations? (i.e. if there is a developer at that wants to spend a few hours working on code for OpenLMIS but doesn’t have specific funding – how do they, and the community convince their employer this is a good idea?)
How do we leverage other open source community leaders and experiences into OpenLMIS to make it a stronger community?
As partners and members of the OpenLMIS Community when do we collaborate and when do we compete?
What operational competencies does each partner have? i.e. if someone wants an OpenLMIS implementation with attributes x, y, and z – who takes the lead? Should we document this?
How do we reduce the overhead of community involvement?
Should country reps be part of the next community meeting?
What is the best way to make sure donors are coordinated on supporting the community or implementations in a country? How can the community support / inform the trade-offs of using OpenLMIS?
How are members elected to committees? How does the size of committees grow / change?
How do we create and incorporate new committees?
How do we create evangelists at different levels of the Global Health community (i.e. donors, tech companies, implementers, ministries, etc.)?
How do we increase our linkages to OpenHIE?
Do we want to pursue a foundation model? If so, how do we approach this?
How do we make the OpenLMIS community sustainable in the long run?
What documentation does the community want (about the community, platform, etc.)?
What documentation should come out of an implementation?
How do we define “community engagement”? Specifically, with the understanding that implementations may be irregular and certain partners may become dormant for periods of time.
Should the community prioritize seeking long term funding to focus on core functionality and support?
Marketing & Advocacy Committee? Do we need one? What is the mission and who is on it?
Where should our “best practice” supply chain practices come from?
Is the community concerned with players outside the community taking OpenLMIS, customizing it and selling it? If so, how do we respond?
Should all messaging around OpenLMIS (i.e. the product / platform and the community) be branded in community approved branding or do partners want to individually brand their implementations? “OpenLMIS” vs. “eLMIS powered by OpenLMIS”
Do we call (not which is it) OpenLMIS a product or a platform or something else?
Do we want to pursue the idea of an “OpenLMIS roadshow”?
How do we drive a process for implementation success stories?
How should partners share opportunities with the broader community
What are the 5 things that make you glow about this product? Everyone should make this list and then we consolidate for the community. Different use cases, value proposition. Can be leveraged for messaging
Do we need a steering committee? What would their role be?
How do we handle on-going support for implementations? Especially at tier 2 and 3. Regional resources identified as a potential solution – need more thought
Can we add end user feedback processes to Implementation Toolkit?
How do we build capacity to support OpenLMIS locally and regionally in Africa?
At what point should the focus shift to making implementations sustainable by the country or local resources?
In the future, how do establish one person as the product manager? (similar question for the technical architect or any role that needs day-to-day and long term involvement in the community. How does the committee oversee this role?
How do we engage countries as a community?
What is the sustainability plan for countries on previous versions of OpenLMIS moving forward? For example, OpenMRS supports the last 3 versions.
What is the impact of M&E? We need to have reliable measurements for OpenLMIS to make an argument for effectiveness
How do individual committees share their discussions and decisions with the wider community?