richardc

Hi, I've just come across this thread and thought I'd add my 2c worth with a couple of points which may be of interest. Firstly, although this is a USA forum, the provision of a blood banking system goes far beyond the USA. The need is actually far greater outside the USA and an open source system would be really helpful for developing countries. The cost of entry into a commercial system means banks either go without a computer system or get a hand-me-down, outdated system. In the developing world, the FDA's requirements arre not so relevant, although 510k certification or CE marking (Europe) would obviously be a huge advantage. But many countries wouldn't require that, provided the system could be shown to work reliably. In terms of 24/7 support, I'd have thought that would be a commercial spin-off if required. That would be similar to Canonical's model (Ubuntu) of providing the software free but charging for other services. People have a choice whether to provide support internally or go to the developers etc. I agree with Bill that it should ideally be built using opensource software. That way others can join in the development over time. Sanel, if you're still interested in this, drop me a note. It sounds like you've got the technical experience and I've got clinical experience, so we might be able to get this started! Richard