Health and Data: Resources from the GovLab

The GovLab’s mission is to improve people’s lives by changing the way we govern. Data is one of the key assets now available to institutions in their efforts to innovate and improve the effectiveness and legitimacy of governance. Ahead of the Open Data Week’s Data and Health event at General Assembly, the GovLab prepared this compendium, collecting a number of publications, case studies and other resources on uses of data to improve people’s lives in the health sector.

GovLab Reports on Health and Data

Smarter Health: Boosting Analytical Capacity at NHS

Informed by both a literature review and analysis, as well as over fifty interviews with personnel from the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) and other experts, this paper aims to help NHS better tap into the analytical expertise present within the health service and among the broader population to the end of making better use of data in patient care.

The Open Data Era in Health and Social Care

This report developed by the GovLab in partnership with the NHS seeks to define a blueprint for accelerating the use of open data in healthcare settings. The report proposes a number of ways to generate a conversation about how the health and social care systems can maximize the impact of data sharing and meaningfully measure the impacts of open data efforts.

GovLab Case Studies

Open Data’s Impact

Battling Ebola in Sierra Leone

This case study explores a number of data-driven initiatives that emerged during the 2014 outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. These initiatives leveraged open and crowdsourced data to improve relief efforts among local and international humanitarian actors on the ground in Sierra Leone.

Singapore’s Dengue Cluster Map

This case study examines Singapore’s data-driven effort to combat the spread of dengue fever. Among other efforts, the National Environmental Agency released a Dengue Cluster Map to raise awareness among the population about where dengue transmission is most likely, and to help inform preventative actions.

United Kingdom’s Coeliac UK and Brandbank

This case study, drafted by Becky Hogge, considers a data-driven initiative in the UK aimed at helping citizens suffering from coeliac adhere to their strict gluten-free diet.

Uruguay’s A Tu Servicio

This case study examines Uruguay’s A Tu Servicio initiative, a platform that provides easily digestible, searchable and visualized infographics based on open government health data to empower citizens to make more informed choices about their health care.

Data Collaboratives

Across the world, actors from different sectors are creating ‘Data Collaboratives,’ a new form of collaboration, beyond the public-private partnership model, in which participants from different sectors exchange their data to create public value. The GovLab’s research into Data Collaboratives has uncovered dozens of examples of data-sharing arrangements toward the public good, including the below examples from the health sector:

Healthcare Businesses in the Open Data 500

The Open Data 500 is the first comprehensive study of U.S. based companies that use open government data as a key business resource. Of the 500 U.S. businesses included in the survey, 40 are active in the health sector, and 80 businesses leverage open data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Since its launch in 2014, the GovLab has expanded its focus through the Open Data 500 Global Network, with surveys launched in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Italy and Korea.

Other Resources

Health Sector Publications on the Open Governance Research Exchange (OGRX)

OGRX is a platform, developed by the GovLab and founding partners mySociety and the World Bank Digital Evaluation Team, aimed at curating exciting new research on innovations in governance. The OGRX publication repository features dozens of publications focused on data-driven innovations in the health sector.