Sambi - it´s time for health care to federate!

Federations are entering Sweden’s public sector on a broader scale. 

I have had the privilege to be part of the creation of Skolfederation (Single Sign-On functionality to promote the use of digital services and textbooks in Swedish schools). I have seen how one with limited resources and a great deal of enthusiasm can develop a national platform for secure access and integration between the school – student, teachers and parent – and external school suppliers. One success factor is the commitment of involved entities: school authorities, school service providers and technology suppliers (among them neXus). 

Swedish health care will launch their own federation during the fall, Sambi (www.sambi.se), and we anticipate that the response will be just as positive! There are similarities in the technology, including the technology that will be found in the next generation of Swedish eID. There are also differences and one that is important is that Sambi’s login and entitlement requirements are considerably higher.

I believe in Sambi, but just like most new things, people will need to believe in it to try it. Some important factors for the success of Sambi are:

• That we have good, working examples – pilot projects are underway.

• That demands are placed on suppliers to deliver services which ‘play’ with Sambi.

• That health care suppliers adapt their services to Sambi.

• That all involved, including the suppliers of technology spread the word about the advantages of an integrated infrastructure for health care in Sweden.

Let’s federate! We have the knowledge and the solutions that make Sambi possible – this is how we do it! Contact us if you want to know more!

Stefan Runneberger