Opinion: Canada must own the systems that connect its health data
Enabling safe, secure interconnection of data analysis to build a trusted foundation for future discovery, will accelerate research and strengthen innovation, and expedite better health outcomes for patients across Canada.
Every day across Canada, enormous quantities of health data are generated: medical images, pathology reports, genome sequences, treatment decisions and patient outcomes. Collectively, these data hold valuable clues that could help us detect disease earlier, understand why one treatment works for one patient but not another, and develop entirely novel approaches to care.
Yet much of this data remains fragmented across our many institutions and jurisdictions. The result is a paradox; Canada has the raw materials—the data—to unlock discoveries that will improve the health of our citizens, but lacks the infrastructure needed to safely and securely realize that promise.
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