A major benefit of IT modernization and digital transformation in the public sector is the ability of agencies to unlock value that’s been hidden in large, disparate, and siloed data sets. Manipulating data to make it more readable and organized drives data-based decision making, which improves operational efficiencies, reduces waste, and improves mission attainment. Using data science to mine insights from otherwise inert information across the entire health ecosystem will improve public health outcomes. Getting to the value of data requires work. Squeezing value from data requires knowing the problem that data can help solve, what data is available, where it resides, and the characteristics of those repositories. Incompatible data storage systems create challenges to mining data that’s locked away in multiple locations. Also to be considered are tools for extracting value from data, including applications that incorporate artificial intelligence.

In this session, data specialists will review the current state of data collection, storage, analytics, and sharing. Panelists will discuss how the field has changed and how it will continue to evolve, including opportunities and challenges for distilling actionable insights from the terabytes of data held by public and private sectors, including healthcare data.

Potential topics include:

• Looking at agencies’ use of data as a strategic asset, including inventory practices, data governance, usability of data, and methods for evaluating data.
• Discussing how the application of data science and analytics can help improve public health outcomes and enhance health equity.
• Discussing barriers to sharing data—across federal, state, local, and commercial entities—to improve public health. Barriers include policies, systems, the lack of skilled workers, etc.

Speakers