Aim and objectives of the tendered services

The hereby tendered services directly feed into Outcome 2 by adding new functionalities with a focus on social protection programmes to openIMIS. The specific aim of the tendered services is to support existing openIMIS implementations with the specific migration of their legacy functionality that was not migrated with the core system.

In order to achieve the aim of the project, the following objectives shall be pursued:

1. Identify and analyse migration gaps in the current architecture and feature set of the modular openIMIS software package with a special focus on reports, REST-APIs and mobile Apps. Together with the country projects, draft a strategy for fully migrating lacking functionality into the new modular openIMIS technology stack.

2. Port the needed functionality into the new modular architecture.

3. Constantly support the openIMIS Initiative in with updates on documentation and training of community members on the new functionality to ease the development of new functionalities and the maintenance and optimisation of the already migrated modules.

The three objectives translate directly into the following work packages that the contractor will be expected to complete. Note that the work packages are strongly interrelated and require an integrated approach.

Tasks to be performed by the contractor

The contractor is responsible for providing the following services:

Work Package 1:  Architecture Design & Migration Strategy

1. Analyse the officially supported mobile Apps and their connectivity to the openIMIS server to identify the currently used legacy REST APIs and their dependencies (e.g. stored procedures).

2. Identify suitable equivalents for the REST APIs in the existing collection of FHIR APIs and identify functionality gaps in the FHIR APIs.

3. Analyse the officially supported legacy reports and their dependencies in the legacy codebase.

4. Identify alternative data sources for a migration of the legacy reports into the new architecture using ReportBro and identify functionality gaps.

5. Identify opportunities for an improved customisability of the reports and improved re-usability of the data-sources (single point of truth).

6. Together with the openIMIS developers’ committee, set up a strategy and roadmap for the migration of the needed functionality into the new modular technology stack.      

Work Package 2:  Migration of the Codebase

1. Apply the needed changes to switch the mobile Apps to FHIR connectivity in the code base of the mobile Apps and the FHIR APIs and their dependencies in the openIMIS codebase.

2. Develop the needed data-sources for the reports, that will be migrated to ReportBro.

3. Design the reports based on the data sources.

4. In close co-operation with the software maintenance project, define change requests for code changes in openIMIS that are necessary to allow for a smooth transition.

5. Provide adequate mechanisms for data migrations from previous openIMIS versions into the new structures.

Work Package 3: Community Support and Capacity Building

1. Support the openIMIS Implementers Committee in the prioritization of the reporting requirements.

2. In close co-operation with the openIMIS Developers Committee, identify issues from the code review meetings that remain to be solved after the migration, especially prioritising security aspects.

3. In close co-operation with the Product Group, align the roadmaps for new feature requests and module migrations in an agile approach.

4. Prepare the needed documentation to enable contributions and local adaptation of the mobile apps and reports by other developers.

5. Conduct online and/or offline training sessions for openIMIS developers and implementers.

6. Support the integration of additional code contributions from external developers in close co-operation with the Product Group.

7. Participate at international events and support in the organization / preparation of side-events & workshops during such events.

Other specific requirements

a) General Conduct

The staff members seconded by the Firm of Consultants must cooperate closely with the GIZ project officer who is responsible to BMZ for the German and Swiss contributions to the openIMIS Initiative and the programme officer appointed for this contract. All activities of the Firm of Consultants have to be done in line with and on the basis of ongoing activities of the openIMIS Initiative to achieve all programme outputs (see chapter 1.IV above).

Ongoing activities that must be taken into account and built upon during this assignment are:

1. Activities of the openIMIS Initiative geared towards community building and regional support structures. This activity is supplemented by additional contracts for regional openIMIS hubs.

2. Activities of the openIMIS Initiative geared towards implementation support for new scheme operators.

3. Active involvement of the openIMIS Initiative in the interoperability networks OpenHIE, GovStack and the Digital Convergence Initiative in Social Protection.

4. The CORE-MIS migration project.

Developments that may lead to difficulties in a later project phase should be identified as quickly as possible. Furthermore, in view of the focus on the results described above, results monitoring is crucially important. An efficient monitoring and evaluation system must therefore be proposed and set up that allows all entities of the openIMIS governance structure, the Firm of Consultants and the GIZ Global Programme Social Protection Innovation and Learning to monitor project progress. Progress reports are submitted quarterly based on a format which will be agreed upon during the inception. Regular feedback sessions may be convened by the GIZ Global Programme Social Protection Innovation and Learning depending on the progress of the assigned tasks. The Firm of Consultants is expected to respond to changes flexibly, especially if the project is in danger of straying from outputs mentioned in Chapter 1.

b) Previous Results in the Maintenance and Support of openIMIS

The openIMIS Initiative together with other development partners has previously supported the maintenance and support of the openIMIS product. The results include among others:

• A harmonised version (main) was created from the country specific adaptations of the openIMIS software package and migrated to a modular architecture using open source technologies and implementing international interoperability standards. It is available in a public code repository and updated regularly with recent code contributions. (https://github.com/openimis )

• A regular release cycle according to a defined change management process was established and successfully applied since 2019.

• A technical roadmap was developed as a living and constantly updated technical document based on a series of workshops with different stakeholders and ongoing technical strategy discussions. (Product Roadmap )

• Community platforms were set up as resource repositories and communication channels for the openIMIS community. A regularly maintained helpdesk was set up and established.

• A sandbox environment to demonstrate openIMIS features and its interoperability options was set up for testing and show-casing.

c) Adherence to Strategic Principles and International Standards

The openIMIS Initiative is committed to operate according to international development principles that are endorsed by the supporting GDC and SDC and correspond to the guiding principles of GIZ. The Firm of Consultants is especially expected to comply to

• the Principles for Digital Development (https://digitalprinciples.org/ )

• the Digital Investment Principles (https://digitalinvestmentprinciples.org/ )

As one direct consequence, the development towards the new modular architecture of openIMIS is oriented at standards set by

• the Business Process Framework for National Health Insurance Information Systems elaborated through the Joint Learning Network (JLN)

• the digital health architecture of the Open Health Information Exchange (OpenHIE) community of practice.

• the interoperability specification for Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR) by the Health Level Seven International Organisation (HL7) 

• the emerging standards GovStack, openG2P and Digital Convergence Initiative for Social Protection

The Firm of Consultants is expected to align with the ambitions of the openIMIS Initiative to further harmonise openIMIS with those standards in terms of terminology, workflows and interoperability.

d) Integration into the Existing openIMIS Structures

The openIMIS initiative builds upon existing software for health insurance management that is being used by insurance organisations in several countries already. Although the migration of the core packages of openIMIS to the new modular architecture is about to finish and the legacy version will not be included in future releases any more, continuous support for smooth operations of those legacy implementations is still important to this commission. Besides simply operating openIMIS, these local organisations also support the openIMIS Initiative with own code developments, which need to be integrated into the core system on a regular basis.

The existing repositories, communication channels and community platforms that were established by the openIMIS Initiative shall be used. Specifically, these are

• openIMIS code repositories (https://github.com/openimis )

• openIMIS issue tracker (https://openimis.atlassian.net)

• openIMIS documentation server (https://openimis.readthedocs.io )

• openIMIS wiki (openIMIS )

• openIMIS translation platform (https://localize.com)

Within the openIMIS governance structure regular exchange meetings are foreseen for different stakeholders, some of which are also relevant for the Firm of Consultants. In the context of this commission, the Firm of Consultants is currently especially expected to take part in the weekly calls of the Developers Committee and the monthly review calls but might be invited for additional events – online or in person.

e) Co-operation with Partners of the openIMIS Initiative

In order to build a sustainable community of practice, the openIMIS Initiative is co-operating with various international partners and sub-contracting other consultants. The Firm of Consultants is expected to work together with these partners in a co-operative and friendly way, respecting and supporting the work of others and disclosing relevant information where necessary. Apart from the consultants that work on the ongoing activities mentioned in chapter 2.I.a and those who work on short term consultancies, the openIMIS initiative currently co-operates closely with other players such as the OpenHIE community, the GovStack Initiative, the Convergence Initiative and other Digital Public Good Initiatives from related sectors. Finally, it can be expected that free implementers and developers who are interested in the project want to associate and contribute to the project. The openIMIS Initiative has a special interest to nourish this kind of relations through a welcoming community culture of trust.

f) Open Source Policy

Being an Open Source project itself, the openIMIS initiative strongly supports the use of Open Source Software in the given context. The Firm of Consultants must be willing to use Open Source Software where possible and at the same time accept that the openIMIS Initiative will release any code that is being produced in the project under an Open Source Software license (GNU Affero General Public License, Version 3). For non-software products such as documentation or training materials, a Creative Commons license will be applied (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License). The Firm of Consultants is expected to avail all software and non-software products in a timely manner to the openIMIS Initiative in source versions that can be further maintained with Open Source tools without loss of product quality.

g) Data protection

In the course of the commission, the Firm of Consultants might be exposed to data on health issues and financial transactions of individuals. The Firm of Consultants is expected to treat any personal information of individuals according to the highest applicable data confidentiality standards. At the same time, the Firm of Consultants is expected to contribute to the security of individual data by applying adequate quality standards.

h) Branding

The Firm of Consultants is expected to comply to the corporate identity guidelines of the openIMIS Initiative and GIZ where appropriate. This applies especially to the use of logos, colour schemes and fonts. Existing templates for presentations or training materials have to be used.

Milestones & Deliverables

Certain milestones, as laid out in the table below, are to be achieved by certain dates during the contract term, and at particular locations: