UK, US launch large, public cloud-based data repository

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy launched an international collaboration as part of its efforts to create large, cloud-based open health data repositories.

During the White House event, called "Data to Knowledge to Action: Building New Partnerships," MedRed, an informatics software provider, and BT, a provider of communications services and solutions, launched MedRed BT Health Cloud (MBHC), a global, multiyear initiative. The cloud is designed to integrate U.S. public datasets with UK’s National Healthcare Service and other healthcare systems. U.S. data include FDA reporting data and recently released Medicare data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Data currently available through the system include several years of de-identified population health data from England, Scotland and Wales, as well as hundreds of other U.K. and data sources, according to the companies’ joint press release.