If this NHS data is properly anonymised, why not open it to everyone instead of just select “researchers and innovators”? (And how do I know that “researchers and innovators” just means Microsoft and Google?)
This just seems like a multi billion pound gift to US tech companies. We’re still effectively in austerity and this is what they’re spending money on.
One problem is medical / life insurance firms. If they use the data to identify correlations (real or spurious) then they might make insurance unaffordable or just flat out refuse it to certain sectors.
I remember when that came out, it was really ahead of its time! Whatever they did with Gov.UK in the beginning should be the model for how government does online services.
The story behind it is nuts, too. Apparently Tim Berners-Lee (he who invented the Web) was at some kind of government reception and Gordon Brown asked him something like, ‘What could the government do to make better use of the web?’. Berners-Lee said, ‘Well, you could make all government data publicly available,’ expecting Brown to go, ‘Ha-ha, no,’ but he just went, ‘Yep, great idea’, and then did it.
If this NHS data is properly anonymised, why not open it to everyone instead of just select “researchers and innovators”? (And how do I know that “researchers and innovators” just means Microsoft and Google?)
This just seems like a multi billion pound gift to US tech companies. We’re still effectively in austerity and this is what they’re spending money on.
You can be sure that Palantir is on that list too.
One problem is medical / life insurance firms. If they use the data to identify correlations (real or spurious) then they might make insurance unaffordable or just flat out refuse it to certain sectors.
Not everyone is looking for medical solutions.
The UK has an open data standard for government data (thanks to Gordon Brown!). I could be wrong, but I think they’ll use that (if not, they should!).
I remember when that came out, it was really ahead of its time! Whatever they did with Gov.UK in the beginning should be the model for how government does online services.
The story behind it is nuts, too. Apparently Tim Berners-Lee (he who invented the Web) was at some kind of government reception and Gordon Brown asked him something like, ‘What could the government do to make better use of the web?’. Berners-Lee said, ‘Well, you could make all government data publicly available,’ expecting Brown to go, ‘Ha-ha, no,’ but he just went, ‘Yep, great idea’, and then did it.
Damn I miss Brown, it’s sad to think what we could have had if he’d won that election.
I’m sure it will be microsoft. They have the NHS in their pocket already and extract hundreds of millions from it.