Data in Public Health: Why we Need a Change in Thinking
The last two decades have brought about a transformation in how we think about data. Social media primed us to believe that sharing is great, from our breakfast to our wedding. Data intensive applications necessitated cloud technology, and now it’s harder than ever to keep track of where we’ve left our digital footprint. The World Economic Forum estimated that in 2020 we would collectively produce 44 zettabytes of data per day, and this value is bound to only trend upwards. Although artificial intelligence provides hope in being able to sort through all this information, at present we are dealing with an infodemic, not just in disease information as the World Health Organization defines the term, but in all aspects of life. Data has become so ubiquitous as to often become meaningless.