The GOSQAS Project
A Global Open Source Quality Assurance System (GOSQAS)
Project Motivation:
The Global Open Source Quality Assurance System (GOSQAS) provides the opportunity to create truthful, transparent documentation via our open source provenance tracker, Global Distributed Tracking (GDT). Designed specifically for low-resource settings, GDT allows anyone with simple website access to securely record their project data. Our development philosophy of “Trust Through Transparency” (TTT) encourages better global communication within diverse communities. Originally designed to promote trust in open source medical devices, GDT has grown to serve an ever-increasing user base to include humanitarian aid networks, biomedical engineering, scientific research, and distributed manufacturing.
Project Concept:
The Global Distributed Tracking project allows anyone with project data to trace the provenance (or history) of that data and add to it using a simple website. This centralized documentation capability allows us to revolutionize the tracking of global humanitarian aid in the “last mile” using modern computer science and cryptography, without the use of web3 or blockchain. Key project assets include a QR code and Unique Device Identifiers. The core language is Javascript/node.js/typescript, using Nuxt, Vue, and Azure blob storage.
We are actively recruiting volunteer programmers and computer scientists, with a time expectation of 6 hours per week for 6 months. Volunteers will be part of a professional computer science team using modern Agile techniques, be exposed to modern cryptographic tools, and have an opportunity to help design novel zero-knowledge notification systems and in browser cryptography.
Ideal volunteers are motivated to design a novel system with enormous potential global impact in the philanthropic, fraud prevention, and supply chains of low- and middle-income countries.
Meet the GOSQAS Team!
Invention Coaches: Christina Cole & Victoria Jaqua
Victoria F. Jaqua
Victoria F. Jaqua is a founding member of OSMS, curator for the OSMS Project Library, and a GOSQAS Steering Committee member. She serves on the board of Public Invention and is Project Lead for the open source Glia tourniquet. Co-author publications include "Design | Make | Protect" and "Distributed manufacturing of an open-source tourniquet testing system."
Christina Cole
Christina Cole (San Francisco, CA) is a founding team member of Open Source Medical Supplies (OSMS), where she serves as Head of Documentation, managing the data and technical infrastructure of the OSMS Project Library and the production of public guidance. She is on the steering committee for the Global Open Source Quality Assurance System (GOSQAS). In addition to her work at OSMS, Christina is co-founder and Board Treasurer of the REAP Center (Alameda, CA), holding the position of Director of Finance and Administration. Her involvement in the non-profit sector inspired her to return to her studies and pursue a Master's in Accounting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Robert L. Read
Robert L. Read has a BA in Computer Science from Rice University and PhD in Computer Science from UT Austin. After holding director-level positions in software firms Hire.com and Planview, he was a Presidential Innovation Fellow in 2013 and co-founded the 18F technology incubator in the US Federal Government, where he was given a GSA contributor award. In 2018, he founded Public Invention, a US 501c3 public charity whose motto is “Invent in the public, for the Public.” Rob leads Public Invention as it organizes teams of volunteers to work on free and open humanitarian research and engineering projects, recently including ferrofluid, tetrahedral robots, human medical ventilation, oxygen generation, and pure mathematics. Public Invention is currently designing a digital control system for ceramic oxygen generation for NASA. He is a member of the ASME, IEEE, and ACM, and mentors young engineers extensively. Rob speaks Esperanto fluently.
