From Big Data to Big Insights: The Role of Platforms in Healthcare IT

The transformations that have taken place in Information and Communication Technology in the past 20 years have given rise to a new form of scientific research paradigm where data-intensive, large-scale projects combine experiment, theory and computing to address fundamental questions about ourselves and our universe. The complexity of the data analysis infrastructures can be tackled by a clear separation of roles and responsibilities and by the implementation of public and commercial computing and data platforms governed by clear agreements. Biomedical and healthcare research and practice could benefit from a broader use of such platforms, hiding the technical complexity behind agreed service definitions and allowing researchers and medical doctors to focus on the data collection, interpretation and usage in the respect of the social and human value of the data and within reasonable, unbiased frameworks where medical research, clinical practice and modern information technologies can constructively interact with each other. This chapter describes the state of the art of data analytics platforms and suggests possible applications and benefits in healthcare while cautioning against excessively utopian scenarios.