In this paper, ICF International recommends a new value-focused research ecosystem that features data in, insights out. The paper describes how integrating and mining unassociated data across the health research landscape present opportunities to introduce efficiencies, leverage federal funds in a budget-cutting environment, and speed new discoveries.
Author John Beresny demonstrates how much data lie hidden and undeveloped in unrelated, disconnected repositories, data systems, and files nationwide, making it difficult for researchers to leverage these data-sets toward new advances in health care treatments, diagnostics, or breakthroughs. Such inefficiencies hinder the pace of scientific discovery, resulting in very limited visible output on billion-dollar taxpayer investments and making critical federally funded research initiatives vulnerable to budget cuts in the current environment. Previous attempts to address this challenge with one-size-fits-all IT solutions have been insufficient for scientists and agencies trying to capture, share, analyze, and make sense of these data. This paper examines a broader approach to data management, one that accounts for researcher and stakeholder realities, and can yield greater engagement, collaboration, and return on investment (ROI).
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