Google has transferred its Open Health Stack (OHS) to the Linux Foundation, establishing a new open-source foundation to accelerate the development of digital health solutions worldwide.
The move creates the Open Health Stack Software Foundation (OHS-SF), a vendor-neutral organisation that will oversee the platform's future development and encourage broader global collaboration.

Supporting Open-Source Digital Health

Originally launched in 2023 through a partnership between Google Research and the World Health Organization (WHO), Open Health Stack provides developers with open-source tools for building digital health applications.

The platform was designed to address gaps in global digital health infrastructure, particularly in underserved regions where access to healthcare remains limited.

New Foundation to Drive Global Collaboration

The Open Health Stack Software Foundation will introduce a community-led governance model, allowing startups, developers and organisations to contribute to the project without financial barriers.

Google.org has also committed US$3 million to support the foundation's long-term development.

The initiative has already attracted support from organisations including WHO, Anthropic, Microsoft, PATH and several regional healthcare networks across Africa and Asia.

Focus on AI and Healthcare Innovation

The foundation will prioritise three core areas: expanding tools for healthcare data standards through FHIR Foundations, accelerating application deployment with the Reference Toolkit, and advancing safe AI development through AI Commons.

Open Health Stack has already been deployed across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, supporting healthcare providers with standards-based digital health applications.

Google said the transition to the Linux Foundation will ensure the platform remains openly accessible while enabling developers worldwide to build the next generation of AI-powered healthcare solutions.