In an article for the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Kevin Vigilante, Booz Allen’s chief medical officer, Steve Escaravage, senior Booz Allen data scientist, and Mike McConnell, former Director of National Intelligence, describe what the intelligence community can teach the healthcare industry about big data and artificial intelligence (AI).
Over the last two decades, and especially following the September 11, 2001, attack, intelligence agencies have realized an urgent need to break down intelligence silos and rapidly integrate and analyze massive amounts of widely disparate data. The healthcare industry faces similar challenges in the massive volume, variety, and velocity of its data requirements. The authors discuss some of the strategies that could be used to help promote more data sharing between and within government agencies focused on healthcare. By following the data management best practices established by the intelligence community, these agencies will deepen data science capabilities and create a more open environment for using data management tools to ultimately drive better outcomes.