The authors explore the history of open source software and how the future of this paradigm can affect global changes to healthcare informatics. They identify four key requirements:
1 to establish an international health informatics open source (IHI-OS) community
2 to develop a kernel that is broad enough but also provides sufficient detail to be usable across international boundaries and across medical disciplines
3 to develop a business case for international health informatics open source
4 to develop international standards
