2. Requirements for the IT solution 

2.1 Description of the existing IT solution 

2.1.1 Software Stack 

After a migration of the openIMIS codebase from proprietary technologies to a full open source technology stack, the following frameworks are now in use and recommended as reference technologies for running an openIMIS instance: 

• Web-Frontend: React JS 

• Backend: Python (Django) 

• Data Access: GraphQL 

• Database: PostgreSQL (recommended), but MS SQL is still supported 

• Packaging: Docker 

• Server: Linux (recommended), but any server OS supporting docker will work 

2.1.2. Previous Results of the  openIMIS Initiative 

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.  (https://openimis.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/OP/pages/40763442/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. 

• In a previous migration project, a thorough comparative analysis of the two system was done and a first set of openIMIS modules was created on the basis of CORE-MIS functionality:      

2.2 Description of the application/use of the IT solution 

openIMIS is an interoperable, versatile open source software which supports the administration of health financing and social protection schemes. It is designed to manage the complex, high-volume data flows which are required to operate such schemes by seamlessly integrating beneficiary, provider and payer data. More than 10 million people in 7 countries benefit from health insurance, employment injury insurance, cash transfer and voucher schemes managed using openIMIS. 

2.3 General conditions at the partner end 

2.3.1 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: 

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

5. activities of the openIMIS Initiative geared towards implementation support for new scheme operators. 

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

7. Merger with the CORE-MIS software from the WorldBank 

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. 

2.3.2 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. 

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. 

2.3.3 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 Digital 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. 

In the special context of this tender, the CORE-MIS team from the Worldbank is specifically appointed to work on the merger of CORE-MIS with openIMIS. 

2.4 Functional requirements 

The functional requirement of this tender are defined through the existing CORE-MIS solution. The resulting software package must provide the same functionality as the existing CORE-MIS package.  

In the CORE-MIS merger agreement with openIMIS, a multi-level approach was adopted to allow for the most efficient use of existing ressources: while the openIMIS technology stack and infrastructure will continue to be the technological basis of the merged product, the joint initiative will build and market sector specific solutions based the common technology stack, e.g. for cash transfer or health insurance. 

This tender is therefore asking for the migration of CORE-MIS functionality into the existing openIMIS technology stack in an integrative approach: 

• CORE-MIS modules and openIMIS modules need to be merged without creating duplicated structures such as the resulting code-base or data-base structures. Existing modules need to be refactored as much as possible, while new modules shall be added only if the requested functionality cannot be integrated into existing modules in a meaningful way. Similarly, data-base tables may only be added if the content cannot be integrated into existing tables in a performant way. 

• At the same time, the CORE-MIS user experience as one specific solution has to be configurable into the resulting system without impacting the user experience of existing openIMIS implementation. Based on this experience, the existing configuration options of openIMIS need to be extended to allow implementers more powerful configuration options without having to create code forks. Examples that were already identified are configurable logos, colours, menu structures, workflows and data structures. 

2.5 Non-functional requirements 

The following non-functional requirements must be taken into account by the contractor when implementing the service. 

2.5.1 Interfaces 

openIMIS provides external access to data and functionalities through standard APIs. The currently used standard is based on the specifications of the HL7 FHIR version 4. The APIs are documented in the openIMIS implementation guide:   

Additional standards will be added according to demand. Currently the emerging standards of the Digital Convergence Initiative for Social Protection are under revision. 

2.5.2 System requirements/technical framework 

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 ( ) 

• the Digital Investment Principles ( ) 

As one direct consequence, the development 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 World Bank Sourcebook on the Foundations of Social Protection Delivery Systems 

• the security recommendations of the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) 

• 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. 

2.6 Use of open source software (OSS) 

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 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. 

2.7 Hosting 

The openIMIS Initiative is hosting all community platforms and communications channels with an eye on sustainability. Code-repositories, documentation servers etc run on free web-platforms that are common in open source development to allow continuity beyond funded project phases. Only the demo servers of the openIMIS sandbox environment are hosted on a commercial server. The hosting of productive implementations of openIMIS is in the sole responsibility of the scheme operators that apply openIMIS and their implementation partners. 

The existing repositories, communication channels and community platforms that were established by the openIMIS Initiative shall be used. They were set up according to best practices in the community and are running at production scale. Specifically, these are  

• openIMIS code repositories ( ) 

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

• openIMIS documentation server ( ) 

• openIMIS wiki ( ) 

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

• openIMIS chat channel ( ) 

The contractor does not provide hosting services. 

2.8 Further specifications/general conditions 

2.8.1 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. 

3 Responsibilities of the contractor 

The contractor must deliver the following services and work packages (along with the corresponding milestones). The work packages have no chronological order and can also be implemented on an integrated basis, depending on the development methodology: 

3.1 Work package 1: Architecture Design & Migration Strategy 

1. Analyse and compare the architecture of CORE-MIS and the new modular architecture of openIMIS as a basis for a strategic decision on how to successively transition the needed features into the openIMIS technology stack. 

2. Analyse the data models and business processes of both systems to identify further opportunities for enhancing the customisability of openIMIS in terms of user-defined attributes and business processes. 

3. Analyse the results of the previous CORE-MIS integration project and re-assess the results for opportunities to further eliminate redundancies. 

4. Analyse options for a further optimisation of the open design of the system, allowing user exits for custom code and plugins for user defined modules. 

5. In a collaborative process with all involved partners (compare chapter 3.II.b), set up a strategy for the full migration of the CORE-MIS codebase based on the analysis results from the previous points and update the technical roadmap accordingly. 

3.2 Work package 2: Migration of the Codebase 

1. Migrate the needed functionalities into openIMIS modules. 

2. 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. 

3. Provide adequate mechanisms for data migrations from previous openIMIS and CORE-MIS versions into the new structures.  

4. Support the maintenance team in the smooth integration of the changed software items with regard to the regular openIMIS releases. 

3.3 Work package 3: Community Support and Capacity Building 

1. Support the Worldbank team and the openIMIS Implementers Committee in the definition of new requirements and feature requests. 

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 basic training materials and documentations to enable contributions and local adaptation under the openIMIS architecture by the new CORE-MIS developers. 

5. Conduct online and/or offline training sessions for the new CORE-MIS developers. 

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.