DHIS2 has grown into critical digital infrastructure for health and other public services around the world. At the same time, the funding environment that has historically supported global digital public goods is changing. Ensuring that DHIS2 remains secure, maintained, responsive to the needs of its users, and freely available requires us to broaden how the shared costs of sustaining the platform are supported.
This is why we are asking organizations that use and invest in DHIS2 to begin incorporating the Shared Services Fee (SSF) into their planning and budgets.
Importantly, DHIS2 remains a digital public good: open-source and freely available to everyone. The SSF does not change that. Instead, it is a mechanism to help sustain the core development, maintenance, security, interoperability, and community coordination needed to keep DHIS2 open and freely available for the long term.
More than a fee: becoming a DHIS2 Contributing Partner
Organizations that contribute through the SSF become DHIS2 Contributing Partners. This creates a more formal connection between organizations investing in the sustainability of DHIS2 and the development and governance of the platform.
Contributing Partners will have opportunities to:
- Have a formal voice in the DHIS2 roadmap process, including discussions of priorities before annual development planning begins
- Participate in annual roadmap workshops with the HISP Centre, HISP Groups, and other Contributing Partners
- Participate in the annual DHIS2 Contributing Partners Forum, focused on platform strategy, governance, sustainability, and long-term direction
- Join thematic working groups around areas of shared interest
- Participate in strategic consultations on major platform initiatives, architecture, governance, and future direction
- Work with other DHIS2 adopters to identify shared requirements and opportunities for coordinated investment, helping reduce duplication while strengthening the common platform
The aim is to create a stronger link between sustainability, participation, and shared governance. Organizations that depend on DHIS2 can contribute to sustaining the platform while gaining a more structured opportunity to help shape its future.
What can you do?
If your organization uses or funds a DHIS2 implementation: Talk with your DHIS2 implementation partner or the HISP Centre about including the SSF in upcoming budgets, agreements, and funding discussions and becoming a DHIS2 Contributing Partner.
If you are a HISP Group or DHIS2 implementer: Start discussing the SSF and Contributing Partners program with the organizations you support and include the SSF in relevant proposals, contracts, and implementation budgets.
The long-term sustainability of DHIS2 is a shared challenge. The SSF and Contributing Partners program are intended to give the organizations that rely on DHIS2 a practical way to help sustain the common platform and have a meaningful role in its continued development.
Learn more about the Shared Services Fee and becoming a DHIS2 Contributing Partner:
We’d like to hear from the community: Have you already started discussing the Shared Services Fee with partners or within your organization? What questions or feedback do you have for us?