The World Economic Forum (WEF), in collaboration with Capgemini, has released a new report titled “Better Together: Building a Global Health Network Economy through Data Collaboration.” The report highlights how fragmented and underutilized health data is limiting the potential of digital healthcare transformation. It calls for the creation of a global health data network economy to enhance patient outcomes, improve healthcare access, and drive innovation through data-sharing frameworks.
The Case for a Global Health Data Network
Health data includes electronic health records (EHRs), genomic information, medical imaging, and wearable device data. It accounts for 30% of the world’s total data volume. However, fragmented standards, regulatory barriers, and uncoordinated systems prevent its full utilization.
The WEF report estimates that poor data use costs the global economy over $800 billion annually. This inefficiency limits efforts to reduce patient harm and improve medical efficiency. More than 50% of medical harm is preventable, yet lack of data sharing leads to treatment delays, medication errors, and missed preventative care.
According to the report, better data collaboration could prevent 3 million deaths per year, which equals over five deaths per minute globally.
AI and Emerging Technology Require Stronger Data Networks
The healthcare sector lags behind finance, logistics, and other industries in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics. Without structured data collaboration, the report warns that healthcare will struggle to integrate AI-powered diagnostics, predictive analytics, and real-time monitoring into routine care.
To bridge this gap, the report proposes a network economy approach, where multiple stakeholders—including governments, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical firms, tech innovators, and patients—can securely share and access health data to maximize its value. The benefits of such collaboration include:
- AI-driven disease detection: Large-scale datasets improve early diagnosis for chronic illnesses like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, which account for 20 million deaths annually.
- Precision medicine: Integrated health records allow for personalized treatment plans based on patient history, genomic data, and lifestyle factors.
- Faster drug development: Secure data-sharing networks could reduce the cost of drug development, which currently ranges from $300 million to $3 billion per drug.
- Stronger pandemic response: Real-time monitoring of health data can predict disease outbreaks, optimize vaccine distribution, and improve global health surveillance.
Regulatory and Interoperability Challenges
Despite its advantages, several barriers prevent global health data integration. Health data is spread across multiple systems and formats, making seamless exchange difficult.
The report highlights interoperability challenges that limit data sharing. Frameworks like Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) exist but are not universally adopted. Without standardization, analyzing and utilizing health data remains a challenge.
In addition to technical issues, regulatory concerns remain. Data privacy laws such as GDPR (Europe), HIPAA (United States), and various national regulations create challenges in cross-border data sharing. The report calls for a balanced approach to ensure that data governance aligns with privacy protections, cybersecurity measures, and ethical AI principles.
Strategic Roadmap for a Global Health Data Network
To accelerate adoption, the WEF report outlines a multi-phase strategy for building a global health data network:
- Standardization and interoperability: Governments and healthcare organizations must establish universal health data standards to enable secure and seamless exchange.
- Public-private partnerships: Collaboration between tech companies, medical institutions, and policymakers is critical to funding and deploying data-sharing platforms.
- Data-driven business models: Financial incentives should encourage stakeholders to share and contribute data while ensuring compliance with ethical guidelines.
- AI and analytics integration: Health data must be structured and optimized for machine learning models to improve diagnostic accuracy and clinical efficiency.
- Regional pilot programs: Countries should test localized data-sharing networks before scaling to a global level.
Global Case Studies: Countries Leading Health Data Collaboration
The report highlights successful case studies where regional health data-sharing initiatives are already showing impact:
- European Union: The European Health Data Space (EHDS) is a regulatory framework designed to enable secure and standardized cross-border health data exchange.
- India: The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is creating a nationwide digital health ID system to integrate medical records across hospitals and clinics.
- United States: The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) aims to establish a unified nationwide health data-sharing infrastructure.
- Latin America: Countries such as Brazil and Mexico are investing in digital health platforms to improve pandemic preparedness and medical access in underserved regions.
Also read: How Blockchain is Changing Healthcare
A Call for Global Action
With ageing populations and rising chronic diseases, healthcare costs are increasing globally. The WEF and Capgemini emphasize that health data collaboration is no longer optional—it is essential. A global health data network could unlock innovation, improve patient care, and enhance public health outcomes.
The WEF report calls on governments, medical institutions, and tech companies to take action. With the right policies, investments, and trust frameworks, the healthcare industry can move from data silos to a predictive and intelligent global health system.
