---
title: Open Source AI for Healthcare: From FLOSS, Open Data, and Open Science to AI Governance
tags:  #digital health #open source ai  
author: [Shinji KOBAYASHI](https://docswell.com/user/skoba)
site: [Docswell](https://www.docswell.com/)
thumbnail: https://bcdn.docswell.com/page/D7Y4928MEM.jpg?width=480
description: This presentation introduces the IMIA Open Source Working Group and explains why open source, open data, and open science are essential foundations for trustworthy and equitable health AI. It also discusses digital public goods, the Open Source AI Definition, and the need for health systems to move from consuming AI to governing AI.
published: June 23, 26
canonical: https://docswell.com/s/skoba/ZL33LP-2026-06-23-170125
---
# Page. 1

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IMIA Open Source
Working Group
Shinji Kobayashi
Chair, IMIA Open Source Working Group,
Gifu University
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/


# Page. 2

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AeHIN Hour on FOSS
·
IMIA Open Source Working Group
What does “open source” really mean?
Use
Study
Modify
Share
for any purpose
inspect how it works
adapt to your needs
with or without changes
Rooted in the Free Software tradition, reframed by Open Source, and brought together here as FLOSS.
Not free of charge
·
Not only source-available
·
Not only open weights


# Page. 3

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AeHIN Hour on FOSS
Open source as a digital public good
The UN recognises digital public goods — open software, data, AI models, standards, and content that protect privacy, do no harm, and
advance the SDGs.
DHIS2
OpenMRS
OpenCRVS
openIMIS
GNU Health
health information
systems
medical records
civil registration
health financing
libre health system
Open licensing is a foundation of every digital public good; for software, this means an OSI-approved open source
license.
Reviewed against the DPG Standard (9 indicators); DPGs can serve as a base layer for Digital Public Infrastracture.


# Page. 4

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AeHIN Hour on FOSS
The IMIA Open Source Working Group -
A neutral home for the four freedoms in health
The IMIA Open Source Working Group, since 2002 — IMIA is the International Medical Informatics Association.
Disseminate knowledge
A neutral platform
benefits of FLOSS in health
for every stakeholder, equally
Foster collaboration
Lower the barriers
connect projects to each other
to real-world adoption
Not a vendor, not a product — a meeting place.


# Page. 5

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AeHIN Hour on FOSS
A trajectory: Open Source, Open Data, and Open
Science
The same four freedoms, aimed at a widening field — and at how open source, open data, open science, and AI interconnect.
2017
2018
2019
2020–21
2022
2024
Open
collaboration
Open data
Open science &
AI
Pandemic &
infodemic
Resilience &
equity
Case series
FLOSS as a model
Privacy, security, and
data governance
open data + open
tools + open
research against
black-box AI
open source + open
data + civic tech
whole health
systems
field evidence
Open Science is the frame; Open Data and Open Source are the two operational foundations of AI.
Throughout: Medfloss.org — one of the largest catalogues of health open source.


# Page. 6

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AeHIN Hour on FOSS
Why this matters for Asia & AeHIN
Four stakes this region has raised for years.
Equity
Sovereignty
run, adapt, and afford it on your own terms
control of your data and your stack
Digital public goods
Capacity
shared infrastructure, not rented dependence
local engineers who study and modify, not just consume
From consumers of AI to governors of AI
Open source is one of the few answers that scales to all four.


# Page. 7

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AeHIN Hour on FOSS
Does the yardstick survive AI?
The same four freedoms, now aimed at systems that are part code, part weights, part data.
What ‘open’ must mean for AI
Where it breaks
The four freedoms + Data Information + Code +
Open weights ≠ Open Source AI
Parameters
Weights alone are not enough.
Open Source AI Definition (OSAID) 1.0 — OSI, 2024 · a useful starting
point, not a medical safety standard
Risk: open-washing
We saw it coming, in 2019, Paton & Kobayashi argued for an open-science approach to AI, against black-box systems.


# Page. 8

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https://www.unopensource.org/