The MIDAS Project has had its first set of press releases:
Lead researcher and overall project co-ordinator from Ulster University, Dr Michaela Black, said: “Ulster University is at the forefront of research into big data and its potential to transform societies and economies both locally and globally. Both the healthcare systems in Europe and the general population generate vast amounts of health and wellbeing related data on a daily basis, from prescription orders and waiting lists to daily step counts and heart rate recordings.
“Currently no system combines secured and anonymised data from a range of sources such as that directly available from the public, for example lifestyle via the FitBit, with the healthcare system data, such as hospital records. Our research will harness this available data to provide extremely valuable insights into the health of a population.
“With these insights policy makers can design evidence-based preventative strategies and implement policies that address specific health and social care challenges. The University research will dramatically enhance the effectiveness of health care policies across Europe by allowing decision-makers to more readily explore health trends, test theories and look for correlations and patterns.”