Sourcing examples on how new forms of social data can be used for health-related research innovation

New forms of social data–data generated using digital devices and systems–have the potential to transform innovative research for health and well-being. From using web-scraped data to experiment with AI tools for mental health, to harnessing social media data to track the state of a pandemics, to analyzing medical device data for new insights on population health, these non-traditional data sources can be used to make new discoveries that guide decision-making and lead to innovative solutions that benefit society. However, more work is needed to unlock the full potential of these new forms of social data for novel health-related research. 

The GovLab with the support of the Wellcome Trust Discovery Research team is beginning a new initiative called Social Data 4 Health. The initiative aims to understand how these new forms of social data can transform health-related research in the humanities, social sciences, and public health domains. Over the coming weeks we will conduct several research activities on the demand and supply of social data and identify use cases for social data innovation for discovery research. 

To begin this initiative, we created a topic map to understand the topics related to using new forms of social data for research that we should explore through this initiative. Below we provide the main categories included in our topic mapping:

• Data: The attributes of social data types and sources

• Challenges: What is preventing the use and re-use of new forms of social data in health-related research

• Actors: The data holders, service providers, researchers, policy makers and others involved in the social data ecosystem 

• Case Studies: Existing research initiatives that have used new forms of social data for research research in population and public health, social sciences, and humanities

• Opportunities: The potential use cases that could unlock new discoveries and research innovation

• External Factors: The events, policies, and other factors that could impact social data use and re-use in research

A high res version of the Topic map can be found HERE

We are looking for your input

Are you a social data researcher, data holder, or service provider? Or do you know someone who is? 

We are looking for examples of organizations and initiatives that are using or increasing access to new forms of social data for health-related research. This includes organizations supplying social data, providing infrastructure to support experimentation with data, or supplying services to unlock data re-use. 

Please share any suggestions by emailing us at datastewards@thegovlab.org or by submitting the Google Form HERE. 

More information about The GovLab can be found on our website: https://thegovlab.org/ 

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Cover Image by Google DeepMind from Pexels