A data sharing platform is a device that allows real-time data exchange between multiple systems. These platforms typically offer scalability, security and governance with ease of use for non-technical business users. These platforms aren’t designed to be static, unlike traditional single-box solutions. They are built to enable real-time data sharing. This includes supporting multiple consumers, producers, clouds, divisions or companies, high rates of data throughput as well as bidirectional flow and ongoing and one-time data exchanges.
In the medical field this involves sharing the patient’s records that are not identifiable with other clinicians and researchers. This allows collaboration on research projects that accelerate the development of new treatments for patients and improve their treatment. This enables quicker second opinions and helps patients choose the best treatment options.
Data sharing can help researchers to be more efficient. Researchers can share their resources and expertise, avoiding duplication of work and allowing them to conduct larger trend analyses over more of a topic or geographical area. Researchers can also save money by using existing datasets.
In a final public sector instance, Airbnb recently shared anonymized host information with New York City to help solve the issue of illegal short-term rentals. This demonstrates how sharing data can benefit both the data-sharing tool private and public sector.