I was taking a look at the Google Summer of Code program (GSoC) and wanted to gauge individual and organizational interest in submitting project ideas around OpenHIE for 2020. GSoC will be taking applications from organizations from January 15 - Feb 6, 2020 so it seems like this is the right time to have this discussion. Do people have ideas or suggestions that could add value to OpenHIE and provide internship opportunities for software students?
I think this is a great idea! As for topic ideas I think there are 2 areas we could use some support in:
1 - OpenHIE testing framework: here we could do a double up, one looking at mapping and creating a testing plan from our architecture doc; and the 2nd could be starting to develop the tests that are missing (i.e. not mapped to IHE etc) this could be in Gherkin etc.
2 - Instant OpenHIE: support the creation and development of containerisation and deployment scripts as well as the configuration options and tests to showcase it working (@rstanley and @daniel.futerman thoughts?)
1 Like
Agreed this is a great idea, a few points to consider as we look to take this forward:
- Defining criteria for project eligibility, given that OpenHIE isn’t a single organisation or product. E.g. Would projects need to align with general/cross-cutting OpenHIE concerns, or is this an opportunity for advancing reference technologies in the OpenHIE space?
- Administration of payments - will need to sign up for a Payoneer account to ensure payments can be received/processed - can this be done under OpenHIE or will it need to be actioned by a supporting org?
- For new organisations signing up to GSoC, the number of projects allocated is usually limited to one or two projects in the first year, unless the application is made under an umbrella org that’s established in the GSoC space.
- Defining project scope, considering OpenHIE domain knowledge required to work in the space, while ensuring projects are feasible for a 2-3 month student project.
1 Like
Thanks @jthomas for sharing this will share it with my team mates and see if its worth going for
1 Like
Hello all,
My suggestion is to take the latest open source openempi code available and get it debugged and hosted on github. I understand the latest version is not conveniently on the web, and is an older version without “object support”.
Eric Jahn, CTO
1 Like
Great Idea Eric. How about we think of rebuilding it in python other than maintaining what currently we have. It could save us the future maintenance issue
Samuel, I think it just needs tiny fixes here and there. No need to reimplement, in my opinion. We use it in production already, but an older version (~v2.8). I just see a need for basic code maintenance and recovering existing working code that is not really available. A good summer project… 
First, we should definitely protect the existing open source asset, then we can move forward with new features. Does that sound reasonable?
1 Like
Now that you put it that way. It may be worth it. Lets see how this goes. can the METS team be in collaboration towards getting this project documented before the GSoc 2020. we could put resources to it.
1 Like
I’m happy to help OHIE and M&E write this up for a GSoC project. Here is one bug we’ve encountered, but the first important task is to locate the latest open source version. Eric
1 Like
@eric and @slubwama thanks for your suggestions around openEMPI. We have not seen any formal announcements around #gsoc2020 come out yet but will keep you informed when we do.
1 Like
#gsoc2020 has been announced and the full program timeline is up - https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/how-it-works/#timeline. It looks like the deadline is Feb 5th. Would OpenHIE be able to meet the organization eligibility or would we need to do this through one of the various partners? - https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/get-started/
The GSOC application window opens today and ends in early Feb. https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/get-started/
Based upon where we are with OHIE testing (working toward a shared framework for testing) and the requirements around supporting an OpenSource code offering, Regenstrief will not be able to do an application on behalf of OHIE testing or other projects this year. The window is a bit short to overcome the hurdles. However we will keep this on the radar for next year as we expect the testing strategy to be further along. We also assume there are other organizations that are in a position to take advantage and apply for their open source projects. We look forward to seeing how the community is able to leverage this opportunity. OpenMRS has been participating for several years.
Jennifer