A big-data revolution is under way in healthcare. There is a dramatic growth of data in healthcare, from Electronic Health Record, lab systems, pharmaceutical companies, insurance claims customer relationship management, to user-generated content in social media. Analytics of big data could change every inch of the nation’s $3 trillion healthcare industry — from better patient outcomes to a more transparent healthcare system to more accessible and affordable care —all for the better.

The DaSH symposium will bring together renowned researchers in multiple disciplines, major companies, policy makers from government agencies, and thought leaders from leading technology associations in related fields to discuss the challenges, opportunities and future directions in leveraging big data for healthcare revolution. We also believe the DaSH symposium will foster collaboration across different disciplines and sectors for profound impact.

The theme of DaSH 2016 is “Data Sharing: the Art, Science and Ethics”. Data sharing is a complex and challenging issue with both technical and social implications. In this symposium, we will discuss several aspects in data sharing. 1) How to encourage data sharing? We will examine the types of data relevant to healthcare research, understand the current barriers to sharing, and discuss ways to provide incentives for sharing. 2) How to facilitate data sharing? What infrastructures and standards should be developed to facilitate the sharing? What are the technological challenges in sharing? 3) How to ensure integrity in data sharing?