ICTworks

Global goods are digital health software tools that are adaptable to different countries and contexts to help address key health system challenges.

A mature digital health global good software is categorized as free and open source software, supported by a strong community, funded by multiple sources, and designed to be interoperable. It has been deployed at significant scale, used across multiple countries over an extended period of time, and demonstrated effectiveness.

These global goods cut down on fragmentation and duplication, accelerate scale and health impact, thereby saving lives and improving the health of people around the world.

Types of Global Good Software

Global good software takes many shapes and forms, often works in conjunction with other global good software, and can fulfill many of the technology needs of a health system. Many of these characteristics are drawn from the Principles of Digital Development. There are three types of global goods:

• Software—A software tool that is free, open source, and used to manage, analyze, or transmit health-related data, with proven utility in several settings.
• Services—A software as a service (SaaS) tool that is used to manage,transmit, or analyze health-related data. These tools can be freely accessed and adheres to open data principles.
• Content—A resource, toolkit, or data standard that is available underan open license and that is used to improve or analyze health data management processes.

Digital Health Global Goods Guidebook describes emergent and established software global goods that have been successfully implemented to address various health system challenges. This guidebook is a living document and will be updated regularly. This edition (version 2.0) focuses on software global goods that are approved for investments through Digital Square and introduces the concept of “shelf- readiness” as well as highlights some of the global goods adaptations to COVID-19.

Why Should I use Global Goods?

Since global goods are open source tools, there are many benefits to their use:

• Many developers contribute to a global good; therefore, vendor lock-in, a situation in which customers are unable to switch developers without a substantial cost, can be avoided.
• Source code is freely available and modifiable so there are more opportunities for collaboration across organizations and health programs areas.
• The cost of new feature development and software maintenance is shared across users and supporters of global goods, so resources canbe focused on adaptation and implementation.
• Software development best practices in requirements gathering and user acceptance testing, have already been undertaken, and so resources can be focused elsewhere.

An excerpt from the Digital Health Global Goods Guidebook by Digital Square