Big Data: Big Opportunities and Risk by Sue Trombley

Part VII in the Big Picture Predictions and Perspectives Blog Series

Rick Smolan, the keynote speaker at the ARMA International Conference a few months ago, impressed me with a sampling of significant and life-changing health care uses of cloud-based data collected by all types of devices, including carpets and refrigerators. Smolan's book, The Human Face of Big Data, opened my eyes to just how massive the impact of big data is starting to be, and will be, for societal, commercial, enterprise, and healthcare use. A quote in the book by Michael E. Driscoll particularly struck me: We've reached a tipping point in history; today more data is manufactured by machines, servers, and cell phones, than by people. Rick Smolan, the keynote speaker at the ARMA International Conference a few months ago, impressed me with a sampling of significant and life-changing health care uses of cloud-based data collected by all types of devices, including carpets and refrigerators. Smolan's book, The Human Face of Big Data, opened my eyes to just how massive the impact of big data is starting to be, and will be, for societal, commercial, enterprise, and healthcare use. A quote in the book by Michael E. Driscoll particularly struck me: We've reached a tipping point in history; today more data is manufactured by machines, servers, and cell phones, than by people.

I am one of the 90 million people in 2014 wearing a device that records my steps, sleep cycle, calories burned, calories consumed, and more. I have authorized my healthcare provider to monitor my stats, which are stored in the Cloud, as part of a personal wellness program that can lead to reduced insurance premiums.

Before too long, these fairly simple devices will warn us if we are showing signs of illness or depression when we sleep less or decrease our activity. Mr. Smolan cited a study underway in which people with diabetes have given permission for devices to report to caretakers when changes in their activity occurs that indicate depression, which could lead to inconsistent or skipped insulin injections. He also talked about a prototype carpet that could sense when an elderly person's gait changes an indicator that they could risk falling. The implications and uses of evidence collecting devices are rife, especially in light of Gartner's forecast shared at the ARMA Conference that by 2020, people will be using 26 billion such appliances.

In another session at ARMA, panelists from the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) mentioned how another form of technology - drones are now being tested to deliver medications at difficult to reach locations, such as islands or remote forested areas.

All of this made me wonder how we will manage the intersection of health-related data reported by devices and those collected by traditional means, such as visits to a doctor's office or hospital. Could they become part of a person's health record for either monitoring prevailing conditions or for preventative care?

As the big data pool grows and its use becomes more accepted and prevalent not just commercially but for healthcare, we must consider the following:

How can we protect personal privacy?

How can we manage big data in compliance with our RIM policies?

Will use be regulated?

How do we ensure access of content in the cloud on demand?

Do we need to write policy for acceptable use of wearable devices at our places of work?

As RIM professionals, we need to be on the forefront of determining how this data and its new sources of collection will change how we do business.

In a recent LinkedIn conversation, a participant asked the question:

Don't Records Management and Big Data (or any data management) have the same broad professional goals to collect/create, organize, store, use and manage information/data to support our organization's strategic goals and business requirements?

They should, but we need to adjust our approach for how we support those goals. As technology is generating more information than humans, we will need to rely heavily on technology to manage and leverage content - way beyond the capabilities of ECMs. We'll need to overcome our resistance to auto-classification or tagging of data, mistrust of the Cloud, and hesitation to get rid of the ROT (redundant, obsolete, and transitory data) that inhibits our speed of access and management of impactful information. We'll need to rely on data analytics, metrics, and key performance or risk indicators to flag where to focus our attention.

Are you up for the compelling challenge of helping your employer embrace taking advantage of the opportunities that big data affords them within the constraints of your legal and regulatory requirements? Let's start the conversation - or join in if it's already begun - because this change is inevitable.

Join our Twitter Chat: Healthcare IG Predictions & Perspectives

On January 28th at 12:00 pm Eastern, @IronMtnHealth is hosting a Twitter chat using #InfoTalk to further the dialog. If you have been involved in governance-related projects, we'd love to have you join. What IG initiatives have shown success for you? How have you overcome any obstacles? What do you see as the future of IG? Keep the conversation going during our Healthcare IG Predictions & Perspectives #InfoTalk at 12pm Eastern on January 28th.

Hear more voices from the thought leaders of the healthcare industry by reading the rest of the blogs in this series: Big Picture Predictions and Perspectives.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2015/industry/healthcare-information-man...
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