Ireland explores Open Data benefits for health
How can Open Data help?
The benefits of Open Data are being explored in more and more areas, for example what it can mean for improving healthcare. eHealth Ireland is a leading player in this field in Ireland thanks to its effort in developing a health system which is supported by technology and data. A crucial element in this system is a complete understanding of the current health system by all stakeholders, including clinicians, patients and the general public. With accurate and up-to-date data on the performance of various health services, shortcomings can be identified and innovative solutions be developed.
With the implementation of the Revised Public Sector Information Directive and the National Open Data Strategy in Ireland, more and more Irish government agencies are publishing Open Data. This has resulted in publishing over four thousand datasets on the Irish Open Data Portal. This is already an impressive amount, however there are still relatively low numbers of data sets which concern health. eHealth Ireland wants to change this and encourage the use of Open Data for a number of domains. With more Open Data on this field, existing services such as the Health Atlas can be improved or new and innovative solutions can be developed. For example by enhancing the accountability of healthcare organisations or by enabling patients to better inform themselves of the medical options they have.
To encourage the release of more and better Open Data on health, the organisation is actively involved in raising awareness on the matter. Want to know more about the Open Data developments in Ireland in this field? Read the article by following the link below.
