Going digital
Our health system is at an important point
everyday healthcare and do this in a manner
in history with the ongoing convergence of
that supports the emergence of a true learning
electronic medical records, genomics, biosensors,
health system, combining precision medicine and
smartphone-based health and wellness apps,
implementation science?
and clinical information exchange supporting the
In 2018 the total amount of data created
journey of healthcare consumers through a rapidly
worldwide was 33 zetabytes,1 or 33 trillion
digitising health system.
gigabytes. In 2015, the volume of healthcare big
The enormous volume of clinical and experience
data created was 4.4 zetabytes. In 2020, we will
data being generated now through normal,
create 44 zetabytes of health data, a 10-fold
everyday health interventions is difficult
increase. Making sense of this much data is tough,
to comprehend, presenting challenges and
just in terms of the volume. If the projections are
opportunities. How will we value these data,
correct, the data generated next year—not stored
and how will we make best use of it?
or used, just new data—will be equivalent to
The value of data
880 billion Blu-ray discs. Or in physical terms,
Large multinationals have demonstrated the value of data collection when it is converted into useful information coupled to commercially viable products and services. So, how can our health system leverage the data collected through
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The Health Advocate • AUGUST 2019
44 million human brains, or 97 grams of DNA. Business analytics capabilities and emerging Artificial Intelligence applications are now fundamental to make sense of the overwhelming amount of data being created. A serious shift in our attention to these data is required to consider
Pixabay
DAVID BUNKER Executive Director, Queensland Genomics
