Over the field of complex numbers, the étale fundamental group controls the local systems, or equivalently the regular singular flat connections, as the topological fundamental group is finitely generated (Malčev-Grothendieck). We describe analogies in characteristic $p>0$, for stratifications (or equivalently $\mathbb{O}$-coherent $\mathbb{D}$-modules, or equivalently Frobenius divided sheaves, or equivalently crystals in the infinite site). In particular, we list some non-trivial examples of smooth non-proper varieties which are simply connected in characteristic $p>0$.
Links:
[1] http://www.mpim-bonn.mpg.de/taxonomy/term/39
[2] http://www.mpim-bonn.mpg.de/node/3240
[3] http://www.mpim-bonn.mpg.de/node/3207