A data sharing tool is an application that allows real-time data sharing across various systems. These platforms typically offer scalability, security and governance, while facilitating use for non-technical business users. These platforms are not intended to be static, as are traditional single-box solutions. They are built to facilitate real-time data sharing. This includes multiple producers, consumers and clouds, as well as companies and divisions. It also supports high data throughput rates and bidirectional data flows.
In a medical environment, this means sharing patient records deidentified to other clinicians and researchers. This allows collaboration on research projects to accelerate the development of new treatments for medical conditions and improve the quality of the quality of care. This enables quicker second opinions and assists the patient choose the best treatment options.
Data sharing also enables research to be more efficient. Researchers can share their resources and expertise to avoid duplication of effort and allowing them to conduct more extensive trend analyses across a greater geographical or topic area. Researchers can also save money by using existing data.
In a final public sector example, Airbnb recently shared anonymized host data with New York City to help deal with concerns about illegal short-term rentals. This is a good example of how sharing data can benefit both the public and private sector.