Tri-Sano and the Technology Behind Collaborative Software

Collaborative software usually originates from a desire to create a useful tool for a particular group of people in an individual pursuit or industry. Public health in particular has always needed better ways to not only classify information, but to effectively relay it to different parties. The Collaborative Software Initiative, or CSI, has built its business model on helping to develop fairly wide-reaching programs that affect a large number of people. One of their collaboratively developed programs, Tri-Sano, helps track the outbreak and spread of infectious diseases by giving governments access to one application that presents precise and continuously updated information.

Tri-Sano’s wide applicability may be one of its greatest features, and offers a perfect example of the benefits of collaboratively developed software. Designed jointly by a group of government officials and infectious disease experts, the program combines scientific data with a presentation format that makes it easily downloadable and accessible to virtually any government organization.

Proprietary software that is developed to meet a very specific need within a particular industry often overlooks how technical and inaccessible the software can be to those unfamiliar with the constraints of the system. Tri-Sano is an example of software purposefully created to link together disparate parties who each have a differing view of functionality: in other words, both highly qualified epidemiologists and sheriff’s deputies can log on to the system and intuitively navigate it to find the information they need within a reasonable time frame. As open-source software, Tri-Sano benefits from constant real-time use. By continuously noting what aspects of the program can be improved through its actual usage, Tri-Sano in a sense never stops being developed. It is constantly in a state of refinement by people whose interest is in creating the most efficient and functional system. Tri-Sano’s effectiveness also hinges on the support of its creator, the Collaborative Software Initiative. By pledging support to always maintain the source code of the program, Tri-Sano can continue to develop into an even more effective tool.

Taking Tri-Sano as an example, collaborative software is often about joining people together in a common pursuit, and bridging language barriers or professional differences to accomplish a single task. Each new collaborative effort focuses on a particular task that has tangible results, whether that result is effectively tracking the outbreak of a disease, or creating better teaching methods for educating children. Successful collaborative software combines the data-rich usefulness of databases with the malleable, highly adaptable interface of the internet, with the bonus of being tightly focused to produce a certain result. Ultimately, the technology to build collaborative software is a combination of a supportive base environment, enthusiastic and knowledgeable contributors, and a continuous feedback loop aimed at improving the software.