Bart de Witte Newsletter

The Rise of Autonomous Healthcare: When AI Agents Create Real-Time Learning Systems

Bart de Witte 27 Feb 2025 • 8 min read Today has been difficult. I just learned that one of my earliest colleagues and mentors from my time at SAP passed away from cancer at only 52. His guidance shaped my early career and understanding of healthcare technology. His untimely death

Agentic AI

The Wild West of Healthcare AI Agents: Why We Need Industry-Specific Platforms

In my previous newsletters, I discussed how EMR interfaces will disappear and be replaced by conversational AI. While this vision resonated strongly with healthcare professionals worldwide, it has also inadvertently highlighted a growing problem: the chaos of uncontrolled AI agent proliferation in healthcare. Support & Donate The Integration Nightmare in

Blog

The Death of EMR Interfaces: Why AI Assistants Will Be Your New Healthcare Companion

Hello from Berlin, In one of my previous newsletters, I discussed how openEHR and AI agents would replace classic EMR vendors. The response has been overwhelming – physicians from across the globe have reached out with enthusiastic feedback, sharing their own frustrations with current systems and their excitement about this vision

Blog

Why Top Hospitals Are Ditching Their EMRs for Smarter Solutions Now

We’ve long known that surrounding yourself with brilliant minds makes you smarter. From children absorbing knowledge from peers to entrepreneurs thriving under mentors, intelligence is contagious. But what if I told you the next great mentor in healthcare won’t be human, it’ll be AI? Buckle up. The

Why Classic EMR Vendors Will Be Replaced by openEHR and AI Agents Architectures

A transformative wave is sweeping through healthcare, powered by the democratizing forces of open-source AI and a growing resistance to monopolistic control. Let's explore how this revolution is unfolding and why it matters for everyone involved in healthcare, from doctors and nurses to patients and innovators. Traditional Electronic

Commentary

Lifting the Curtain: Building Isaree

Dear readers, As most of you know, I have been on a continuous journey to democratize medical AI. This journey started long before state-of-the-art research labs published their foundation models under open-source licenses. My drive to push for open-source policies was rooted in my beliefs that to progress humanity as

Blog

Unlocking the better Future

Dear readers, I am sharing this piece inspired by the many discussions I’ve had on panels about the transformative power of open data. Often, I use the analogy of Gutenberg and the alphabet to illustrate the importance of shared resources in driving innovation. Imagine if Gutenberg, after inventing the

Blog

Value-Based Pricing and AI: A Recipe for Healthcare Inequality?

Greetings from Berlin, As I write this, I’m reflecting on the growing influence of value-based pricing in AI-driven healthcare and how it could reshape accessibility and affordability. Drawing troubling parallels with the pharmaceutical industry’s monopolistic practices, I’m exploring how regulatory barriers and corporate dominance are threatening to

Conference

Open Source AI Summit 2024

Dear Readers, Welcome back! I’m excited to bring you highlights from the latest Open Source AI Summit—this time hosted at the iconic ArtScience Museum in Singapore! Organized by KryptoPlanet and co-hosted with NEAR Protocol, this event brought together key players and thought leaders in open-source AI, with sponsors

Blog

The Authority of Knowledge and Epistemology: Historical Context and Modern Implications

Greetings from Berlin, Throughout history, those in power have manipulated information to shape narratives and control populations. The digital age has amplified this challenge, making it harder than ever to distinguish fact from fiction. As we grapple with modern disinformation, we can draw valuable lessons from historical events like the

Blog

Munich Insights: Open Source AI Growth Strategies for Startups and Governments

Subscribe to the Hippogram Greetings from Munich! I'm just returning from the incredible Bits & Pretzels Founders Festival in Munich, which brought together 7,500 founders, investors, and industry leaders for three days of learning, networking, and business opportunities—all during the vibrant atmosphere of Munich's

Business Strategy

10 Essential Do's and Don'ts for Startups to Supercharge growth

Startups leveraging open source AI often experience faster growth and greater innovation. Companies like Together AI, Hugging Face, Invoke AI, Kaiko AI, Biooptimus, Paige AI and Mistral AI have demonstrated that open-sourcing their core technologies can be a powerful strategy, enhancing credibility, community support, and market adoption. Y Combinator has

Policy

10 Essential Do's and Don'ts for Governments to Supercharge Open Source AI Innovation

To effectively harness the potential of AI, governments must strike a balance between fostering innovation and ensuring responsible development. The following recommendations provide a comprehensive approach for governments to support open source AI, leveraging its benefits while addressing the associated challenges. These do's and don'ts aim

Commentary

Surveillance Communism: The Digital Threat to Freedom in the 21st Century

Dear Readers, As someone deeply involved in healthcare technology and AI policy, I have seen firsthand the potential of digital innovations to transform lives for the better. However, these advancements come with significant risks when left unchecked. The rise of techno-authoritarianism, or surveillance communism, threatens not only individual privacy but

Case Study

Case Study: Elastic's Abandonment of Open Source

Dear Readers, I have been gathering numerous case studies on open source, and I thought it would be valuable to share these insights with you in my newsletter. In the coming weeks, I'll dive into various examples, exploring how openness influences innovation, collaboration, and growth. Stay tuned for

Analysis

The EU is Headed for 'Slow Agony' Unless We Radically Change Course

After a year of preparation and countless interviews, Mario Draghi has presented his much-anticipated report on the future of European competitiveness. In the 400-page document, the former ECB president provides a detailed analysis of why the EU continues to lag behind the US and China. During the presentation, he starkly

Dialogues

Open Source AI dialogues #2

Hello and welcome! I'm thrilled to have you here as we embark on this exciting journey exploring the intersection of open-source AI and medicine. My name is Bart de Witte, and I've been immersed in the health technology industry for over 20 years. Throughout this time,

Analysis

How Telegram Became the Battlefield for Democracy and Deception!

Dear readers, I originally hesitated to include this piece in my newsletter, but after sharing it on social media and receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback, I felt compelled to share it here as well. I believe it’s a conversation worth having, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could

Commentary

Communist AI vs Liberal AI

Dear readers, I came across a commentary by the well-known professor Prof. Dr. med. Torsten Haferlach on an essay by Evgeny Morozov in Le Monde diplomatique and felt the need to comment on it and hopefully continue the important dialog. I would appreciate it if you would share or spread

Dialogues

Open Source AI dialogues #1

Hello and welcome! I'm thrilled to have you here as we embark on this exciting journey exploring the intersection of open-source AI and medicine. My name is Bart de Witte, and I've been immersed in the health technology industry for over 20 years. Throughout this time,

news

Is Open-Source AI the Cure for Cancer? Groundbreaking Models Released for Free

Navigating the near future: an insider's perspective. Dear Hippogram readers, As I predicted earlier this year, the open-source movement is dramatically "infecting" the AI development landscape in healthcare, particularly in pathology. Several innovative startups and established companies are now releasing powerful open-source AI models, making groundbreaking

news

Case Study: Meta's Strategy for Open-Sourcing LLaMa: A Detailed Analysis

Intro In the past few weeks, I've encountered various perspectives on Meta's strategy for advancing their frontier large language model (LLM), Llama 3.1. This model, with capabilities comparable to GPT-4 and Claude 3.5, is now publicly available for the first time. Released by Meta

equity

Unlocking Success: Equality of Opportunity vs. Equity - The Real Winner -- 🦛 💌 Hippogram #26

Yesterday I posted a conversation between the former Digital Minister of Taiwan, Audrey Tang, and Frederike Kaltheuner at thiss years re:publica in Berlin. Frederike Kaltheuner, raided the question were we need to invest to increase plurality and suggested that investing in open source AI, we would still need to

Bridging the Digital Divide: Harnessing Copyleft for Equitable AI Innovation -- 🦛 💌 Hippogram #25

During the last few years, I have been calling for copyleft licensing for health data. Now, with my latest article, I delve into how copyleft licenses can dismantle information asymmetries, accelerate innovation, and make healthcare advancements accessible to all. By ensuring that data derivatives remain open and public, we can

Liberating AI: The End of Surveillance – 🦛 💌 Hippogram #24

Reflecting on the past two years of open-source AI advancements in large language models, it’s evident that open-source communities are leading innovation faster, more affordably, and inclusively than proprietary efforts from companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. This progress has even extended to edge AI, where models operate independently

The Healthcare Innovation Letter