grapevine: Worldwide initiative at the ready: grapevine to advance global IT standardisation

Extending IHE standards from healthcare to various industries

Presentation of the global standardisation campaign at conhIT, Europe’s leading event for healthcare IT: interoperability as a win-win situation for all involved.

The ability of different manufacturers’ hardware and software systems to communicate with one another and to work together as seamlessly as possible is a prerequisite for subjects of the future such as Industry 4.0, Smart Cities or Internet of Things (IoT). Interoperability is becoming increasingly important, as data has to be exchanged more effectively, cost-effectively, and faster. Expensive and inefficient proprietary systems are neither modern nor future-oriented. This is precisely where grapevine comes in – a manufacturer-independent initiative that brings together IT providers, suppliers and integrators with the aim of establishing a global standardisation in data exchange, thus enabling the interoperability of various systems.

"In the past, billions were spent on proprietary IT systems – without measurable impact. Our vision is to bring everyone together into a large standardisation collective and establish uniform standards. Everyone involved will benefit from this. grapevine is the first initiative which focuses on overall development globally and which is completely manufacturerindependent", says Martin Tiani, CEO of grapevine world.

Driving interoperability forward in all areas

The initiative will be presented in Berlin from 25-27 April 2017 at conhIT, the "Connecting Healthcare IT" event. Building on the excellent work of the IHE, which has been promoting the development of standardised data exchange in the health sector for the last 17 years, grapevine interoperability will internationally expand to all industries and vertical markets in the future. To this end, IHE standards are to be transferred to other segments: from the energy sector to finance and insurance, education, e-government, justice and agriculture.

grapevine comprises grapevine world ("Marketplace"), the national grapevine companies ("Nationals") as well as project-specific grapevine authorities (Special Purpose Vehicles). Products certified by IHE and grapevine can be purchased on the marketplace.

Benefits for all stakeholders

In order to become actively involved with grapevine, companies and products must first undergo a two-fold certification process, which consists of the IHE certification and projectrelated tests within the framework of the grapevine "Projectathon".

Stakeholders of grapevine include technology suppliers, providers (system hosting), system integrators as well as investors. All stakeholders benefit from global market access and higher sales volumes. The participating companies are able to access other markets without additional development measures, while new opportunities open up for smaller providers. The two-fold certification guarantees enterprise-customers high standards. Likewise, the processes become simplified for consumers, the public and patients, who all also receive comprehensive access to their details with complete control and self-determination (healthcare example: digital patient records). In addition, interoperable solutions help reduce costs, which also means lower prices for end users.

Manufacturer-independent initiative with future solutions

Up until now individual manufacturers have primarily tried to implement their own solutions as a standard. In contrast, grapevine relies on a global ecosystem where all market participants are involved. In this sense, grapevine is not in competition with any other companies or initiatives. What’s more, all new concepts and methodologies such as IoT, Industry 4.0, FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) and blockchain are also integrated.

grapevine’s financing is based on licence sales, where 27.5% of each sale on the marketplace go to grapevine. Two licensing models are available: SaaS (Software as a Service) and On Premises Software (single license plus maintenance). The majority of the revenue (70%) is kept by the manufacturer, and 2.5% are returned to the IHE, thereby strengthening IHE community on a global scale, in order to continue to drive forward the ongoing global standardisation of IT.

About grapevine

grapevine is a manufacturer-independent initiative whose aim is to establish a global standardisation in data exchange, thus enabling the interoperability of various systems. To do this, grapevine brings together IT providers, suppliers and integrators. grapevine comprises grapevine world ("Marketplace"), the national grapevine companies ("Nationals") as well as project-specific grapevine authorities (Special Purpose Vehicles). The products of the various manufacturers are sold on the marketplace. Stronger together – all stakeholders benefit from working together and thus play a part in achieving international interoperability in unison. www.grapevineworld.com

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