Blog
Introducing the OCL Squad Model
Hi everyone! I’m excited to announce that we are rolling out the OCL Squad Model—a new way for contributors to collaborate, build, and innovate together. Inspired by the OpenMRS squad approach, this model organizes small, self-driven teams that take ownership of key projects, making it easier to get involved and drive meaningful impact. Whether you're a developer, implementer, or just passionate about open terminology solutions, there's a place for you. Check out the squads, see where you fit,...
OCL is a Digital Public Good!
We are thrilled to announce that the Open Concept Lab was officially recognized by the Digital Public Goods Alliance as a Digital Public Good! This new designation means that OCL is in compliance with the nine indicators and requirements of Digital Public Goods standard. Being a DPG means that governments and implementers may confidently use OCL to contribute to their Sustainable Development Goals as part of their Digital Public Infrastructure. Take a look at OCL's page in the DPG Registry...
2025 OCL Community Roadmap
What is the OCL Community Roadmap? The Open Concept Lab (OCL) Community Roadmap, created for and by our community, lays out a set of goals for OCL’s tools, services, and the community at large, and follows this general approach: Goals are aspirational– not commitments– representing community priorities and requirements, and are only achieved through community contributions and funded efforts. Community members are encouraged to collaborate on and champion...
OCL puts its FHIR Core to the Test at the HL7 Connectathon
Joe Amlung and Rafal Korytkowski from the OCL team recently participated in the HL7 FHIR Connectathon in September, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA! This event provided an excellent opportunity to engage with the FHIR community, assess our current capabilities, and chart our course for future development. Our Objectives We came to the Connectathon with clear goals in mind: Strengthen OCL's engagement with the FHIR community Evaluate OCL’s FHIR support through rigorous testing...
Insights and Future Directions from the OCL Community Survey
As we look ahead to 2025, the Open Concept Lab (OCL) team is excited to share the results of our recent community survey! This survey was distributed in early October 2024, and we were ecstatic to receive such valuable feedback from our diverse user base. Survey participants spanned multiple countries and organizations, with the intent to help shape our roadmap and ensure OCL continues to meet the evolving needs of the global health informatics community. OCL's Global Reach The...
Upcoming event: OCL Quarterly Showcase – Wednesday 9 October
Join us for the OCL Quarterly Showcase on Wednesday 9 October July at 8am ET/12pm UTC/3pm EAT! This meeting will be a broader community meeting where we will share the successes of the past quarter, along with a brief discussion about upcoming priorities for the next quarter. This showcase will also feature both Julia Fuller, the first fellow with the OCL Community who will share about her work and experience, and Ellen Ball with Partners in Health (PIH) who will be sharing a use case on a...
NHDD Conceptual Framework & NHDD Use Cases
Julia Fuller, the 2024 Open Concept Lab (OCL) community fellow has been working closely with the OCL team and the OpenHIE Terminology Services subcommunity to develop the National Health Data Dictionary (NHDD) Toolkit. The following is an update on the conceptual framework and use cases for NHDDs, written by Julia Fuller. Purpose and Context One of the outputs of the OCL fellowship this summer is to enhance the NHDD Conceptual Framework by adding use cases. Use cases are a helpful tool for...
Upcoming event: OCL Quarterly Showcase – Wednesday 17 July
Join us for the OCL Quarterly Showcase on Wednesday, 17 July at 8am ET/12pm UTC/3pm EAT! This meeting will be a broader community meeting where we will share the successes of the past quarter, along with a brief discussion about upcoming priorities for the next quarter. This showcase will also feature advisors of the Kenya National Health Terminology Service (KNHTS), which is using OCL to publish nationally endorsed terminology content. Please see below for the meeting link and dial-in...
Announcing the 2024 OCL Fellowship!
I’m thrilled to announce and welcome Julia Fuller as the new 2024 OCL Fellow! Julia will be working closely throughout the Summer with the OCL team and the OpenHIE Terminology Services subcommunity to develop the National Health Data Dictionary (NHDD) Toolkit. Get to know Julia Fuller Julia is currently pursuing her MPH at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health with a focus on health policy and management. Prior to pursuing her MPH full time, Julia worked as a research...
Upcoming event: OCL Quarterly Showcase – Wednesday 10 April
Join us for the OCL Quarterly Showcase on Wednesday, April 10 at 8am ET/12pm UTC/3pm EAT! There is a lot of amazing work happening in and around the Open Concept Lab community. This is a chance to celebrate our progress, learn about the latest achievements/upgrades, and discuss upcoming initiatives for the OCL tools, services, and community! Since the start of 2024, we have made notable progress on improving the technical foundations of OCL, along with enhancements to the OCL tooling...