The International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth publishes (in an electronic form) the Report of the Innovation Working Group (IWG) Task Force on the Global Knowledge Commons for m-eHealth Innovations.
The report addresses the key challenge facing digital health, which is that of converting our collective knowledge into a global public good, accessible to all, thus enabling each actor in the ecosystem to benefit from what others know. The document postulates that a Global Knowledge Commons (GKC) for innovation in health or simply “the Commons”, would be composed of three main constituents:
- A database of projects, products and services;
- A “Who is who in eHealth” – individual experts and institutions; and
- Reusable m-eHealth knowledge objects, in various formats, such as articles, presentations, videos, etc.
The Commons would leverage existing repositories of the digital health space, and lead to five significant beneficial outcomes:
- Digital intelligence at-a-glance through dash-boards by geography, application area and thematic area;
- Clearinghouse for IP on digital health issues;
- Development of new knowledge as well as the reinforcement of partnerships;
- More effective and efficient use of eHealth resources through better use and re-use of digital health experience;
- Availability of instruments for transforming the knowledge from the Commons into new products and services through creation of product development partnerships (PDPs) and incubator systems for digital health innovation.
The report concludes that three key factors distinguish the GKC from previous attempts at sharing information and knowledge through a common platform:
- A focus on integration and collaboration around knowledge, not on the creation of new tools;
- There will be no need for users to switch from the tools they currently use;
- The backing of the IWG, and the composition of the Task Force augur well for the future success of the Global Knowledge Commons.
