This file hosts an abstract (submission ID 342) for SciDataCon 2016 (11-13 September, 2016, in Denver, U.S.), which was submitted on May 31. The abstract has been accepted on July 7, and the talk has been included in the session The Data requirements and availability for decision makers (ID 93).
Data sharing in public health emergencies
"Open data matters most when the stakes are high" – and what this means in the context of public health emergencies like the ongoing Zika virus outbreak.
Public health emergencies require profound and swift action at scale with limited resources, often on the basis of incomplete information and frequently under rapidly evolving circumstances. While donations of physical goods, personnel, financial aids and some other forms of emergency-triggered sharing go back millennia, data sharing is a relatively new facet of public health emergency responses. As our societies become ever more digital and globally connected, the profile of data is growing in many ways, and with it the potential impact of policies and practices around sharing and safeguarding data.
The SciDataCon website states that “the most significant contemporary research challenges—and in particular those reaching across traditional disciplines—cannot be properly addressed without paying attention to issues relating to data”.
With this contribution, I propose to present a range of contemporary research challenges related to major public health emergencies from around the globe and to highlight how the sharing or safeguarding of data and digital infrastructure affected the respective responses, particularly in ways that do not easily map to traditional disciplines.
The underlying project is conducted by way of open notebook science that can be followed and contributed to via https://github.com/Daniel-Mietchen/datascience/blob/master/emergency-response.md .
The talk itself will be given on the basis of https://github.com/Daniel-Mietchen/talks/blob/master/SciDataCon2016.md , which will be continuously expanded until the event takes place, and possibly thereafter.
The author works as a contractor for the National Institutes of Health, including on issues around data sharing in public health emergencies.
The following reviewer comments were transmitted to me on July 3 in response to the original submission. As I was on vacation at the time, I did not have time to incorporate them into the final conference paper (which was due on July 10, i.e. two months before the talk). I will take care of that when back. In the meantime, I am including here a few quick responses to these comments.
The paper has delve into important topic of data sharing in public health. But the paper should also provide further explanation about some of the challenges that are identified and possible solutions for data sharing. If the solution is not available, at least explaining the problem and how it is affecting the targetted sector will be helpful.
Yes, the talk will provide further detail. Will check how the session is going to be documented, and provide the information accordingly.
This paper discusses an important issue of data sharing in public health emergencies. The abstract, however, is not properly written, and there is no specific substance with regard to the approach or methodology taken in this paper. This needs to be improved.
I have changed the abstract slightly. Not sure yet what to write in terms of methodology — so far, it has been little more than just taking notes of relevant activities as I saw them flow by in the news or in the literature. One of the purposes of the talk would be to get in contact with others who actually do research on such topics (so far, I haven't, but I am interested).
This submission will discuss use cases for sharing data during public health disasters. If this will be a lightening talk for Session 93, then this seems appropriate to the session as this talk will address data sharing requirements in emergency situations. The information needs to be more clearly and robustly presented.
Yes, I will try to make it more clear and more robust, and I like lightning talks. On the other hand, I have enough material to fill the 10 min allocated to my part of the session.
#See also
- Make Data Sharing Routine to Prepare for Public Health Emergencies — a paper on basically the same topic as this talk.
- Data sharing in public health emergencies — a presentation for the International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and Surveillance (IMED 2016)