A framework to share healthcare simulations on the web using free and open source tools and Python

Abstract

We present a simple framework to support sharing of executable healthcare discrete-event simulation models in python over the web. Our sharing framework is based on combining remote version control repositories with free and open source software – Jupyter Notebooks, Jupyter Books, and streamlit – along with free digital infrastructure provided by Binder, streamlit.io, GitHub pages, and open science repositories such as Zenodo. The framework enables executable models to be shared with users of different technical abilities: from coders to software literate users. We provide an applied example including a full web application of an executable model. Our framework aims to support NHS organisations to preview, validate, and use models. Academic research teams can also benefit from enhanced scrutiny of their work and long term archiving of models.