Webinar on openIMIS: Open-Source solution for complex healthcare and social protection systems

The Govtech sector is emerging as a key driver of modern governance, enhancing innovation and efficiency in public services. In Brazil, Dataprev, a state-owned company focused on technology and information for social security is at the forefront of this digital transformation. It manages the country’s largest public database and provides services to the Brazilian government.

Currently, Dataprev is exploring the possibilities of implementing the innovative solution openIMIS, an open-source tool for managing social protection programs and health insurance. The webinar, conducted under the framework of the Code4Dev initiative, showcased openIMIS and the partnership with the company.

The live stream of the event is available on YouTube here, with subtitles in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Opportunities of OpenIMIS

Saurav Bhattarai, Team leader for the openIMIS initiative at GIZ, presented the tool. Classified as a digital public good, openIMIS has evolved since 2012 and is now used in over 12 countries, benefiting 24 million people. Supported by a global community of developers, the software is flexible and modular, allowing for customisation to meet various social program needs.

Felipe Leão, Manager of DataPrev’s innovation lab, highlighted the potential offered by the implementation of openIMIS in Brazil for both federal and state administrations. On a national level, it be deployed to support different policies, including health assistance for entrepreneurs, financing of professional athletes, and scholarship distribution for higher education. On the state level, openIMIS could strengthen social program management, disaster monitoring, and rental assistance.

Technical presentation

Uwe Wahser and Badr Banani, advising openIMIS on IT matters, provided a technical demonstration of the software. Washer emphasised the importance of compatibility with Microsoft SQL Servers and outlined the structured development process. This included biannual releases and a sandbox environment for testing interoperability with other programs. Finally, Banani provided a step-by-step presentation on installing the OpenIMIS software on a Windows machine.