openIMIS Newsletter May/June 2025
Welcome to our May/June 2025 newsletter! Many exciting things have happened that we want to call your attention to:
Upcoming Highlights
- Upcoming Bhela Call on Women in Tech
Recent openIMIS Events
- Recap: Community Connect
- Recap: Stakeholder Committee Meeting
- Recent Bhela Discussions on Communication and Dashboards
Recent Events Attended
- openIMIS at ID4Africa 2025: Sharing Insights & Impact
- Recent Learning Opportunities: Digital Ambassadors and AeHIN Hour Webinar
Your openIMIS Coordination Desk Team
Upcoming Highlights
Upcoming Bhela Call on Women in Tech
Over the past few months, we’ve introduced you to several inspiring women working in technical roles within the openIMIS initiative. Now, we’d like to take a moment to celebrate their achievements and highlight their contributions together as a community. In our articles so far, you have met Yolande Margaret Goswell, Systems and Project Manager at 2M Corp in The Gambia, Sylvia Mwelu, Digital Health Technical Lead for Kenya Health Informatics Association (KeHIA) in Kenya, Karolliny Nayra dos Santos Lima, IT Analyst for Dataprev in Brazil, and Kristin Chloe Pascual, Project Manager and openIMIS Regional (Asia) Hub Coordinator for AeHIN in the Philippines. Stay tuned for the next profiles to be shared soon!
For more information, check our LinkedIn page for updates.
Save the date for September 24, 2025, at 10:00 am CEST!
Recent openIMIS Events
Recap: Community Connect 2025
On May 14-15, we held our yearly Community Connect Call.
Together, we reflected on our progress and openly discussed the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the openIMIS initiative. For us at the Coordination Desk, this was a great occasion to engage directly with the community – beyond our regular weekly calls - to listen, learn, and better understand what matters to you, what might be missing, and where we can improve.
We've taken careful note of everything that was shared, and we’re eager to nurture the openIMIS garden so it can continue to grow and thrive - collaboratively, sustainably, and with purpose.
Read the summary of the event here.
Find the recordings and presentations on our wiki.
Recap: Stakeholder Committee Call
On May 7, 2025, we hosted our bi-annual Stakeholder Committee Call, bringing together representatives from Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), European Comission (EU), International Labour Organization (ILO), International Social Security Association (ISSA), The World Bank, World Food Programme (WFP), Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), SolDevelo, Asia eHealth Information Network (AeHIN), and sectoral experts.
The Coordination Desk kicked off the session with key updates; highlighting recent milestones, implementation progress, and technical developments. We then moved into a collaborative exchange focused on advancing our collective efforts in the field of humanitarian assistance.
This forum plays a critical role in gathering diverse perspectives and fostering constructive feedback. Through ongoing dialogue with our partners and reporting bodies, we ensure transparency, accountability, and that our work stays aligned with shared goals.
Recent Bhela Discussions on Communication and Dashboards
In May’s Bhela, we explored ways to strengthen the initiative's communication and outreach. The session covered a review of the Coordination Desk’s LinkedIn performance, an introduction to editorial planning for future posts, and a collaborative segment to co-design upcoming campaigns featuring country implementations, private sector partnerships, and academic engagement.
The presentation and recording are available on the dedicated wiki page.
In June’s Bhela, the spotlight was on dashboard options for program operators. Presenters from Nepal, Burundi, and Cameroon showcased tailored dashboards built on platforms like KoBo Toolbox, Metabase, and Superset—offering key insights for managing beneficiaries, claims, and more across different openIMIS-supported schemes.
Find the presentations and recordings on the dedicated wiki page.
Recent Events Attended
openIMIS at ID4Africa 2025: Sharing Insights & Impact
At this year’s ID4Africa conference in Addis Abeba, openIMIS took part in two key sessions showcasing its role as a Digital Public Good (DPG) supporting inclusive health and social protection systems.
Panel Participation:
Saurav Bhattarai presented insights from 10 years of openIMIS implementation experience, emphasizing that successful DPGs like openIMIS depend on strong ecosystems; governance, community, private sector, standards, and academia. He stressed that sustainability, not just scalability, is key to lasting impact. Find out more in our dedicated LinkedIn post.
Country Use Case Presentation:
Emmanuel Batoum from Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health presented how openIMIS supports the country's National Digital Health Strategy and its path toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC). With over 4.6 million beneficiaries pre-enrolled and 1,300+ trained facilities, Cameroon’s openIMIS rollout highlights both scale and integration with national systems like Camer Health Coverage and Metabase. For a longer recap, read our LinkedIn post on the event.
Recent Learning Opportunities: Digital Ambassadors and AeHIN Hour Webinar
As part of our ongoing efforts to advance the openIMIS initiative, the Coordination Desk actively engages in opportunities for learning, exchange, and collaboration. Two recent activities that supported this goal were the GIZ Digital Ambassador's gathering and an AeHIN Hour webinar focused on openIMIS and academia.
In the Digital Ambassadors session held at GIZ in May, participants explored how digital solutions like openIMIS can be tailored and shared to empower local partners and marginalized groups.
Meanwhile, during the AeHIN Hour webinar, Dr. Julius Migriño shared how San Beda University College of Medicine is integrating openIMIS into its medical curriculum, highlighting a growing collaboration between openIMIS and academic institutions.
These exchanges strengthen our shared knowledge base and promote innovative use of digital public goods in health systems.