I was in Boracay, Philippines last month for a FHIR Connectathon. That’s where a tech-heavy group of people get together for a few days to learn by doing. Specifically, we (the organizers) give them a data exchange spec, a server, and some mocked up data. We then say “go exchange data!” They write code, etc, and when they get stuck, everyone swarms around to help.

Of course the participants learn stuff, but so do the organizers and spec developers… maybe the API doesn’t work like we thought it would. Maybe the documentation isn’t clear or complete. And so on. Win win win.

And after the day’s work is done? Did I mention this event is taking place in a beachside resort?

Working with the Philippine teams is a real pleasure. They’ve grown up with severe resource constraints, so the internet access, powerful laptops, and various subscription based tools I’m used to often aren’t available to them. Many of them work in the highly bureaucratic public sector, so just being allowed to do their job can be a challenge. And yet, all I ever see is positivity, a willingness to learn, and mad skillz… with all the obstacles, they just seem to get it done.