Hospital Authority Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation will jointly launch a data collaboration laboratory to provide access to a comprehensive clinical database for non-academic biomedical and healthcare research and development.
WHAT MATTERS
According to a press statement, the upcoming laboratory at the Hong Kong Science Park will enable direct exclusive access to the HA Self-service Data Platform, which contains anonymous clinical records of approximately 200,000 randomly selected patients between 2007 and 2017. The database includes patient demographic characteristics , attendance records at hospitals and clinics, clinical diagnoses, procedures, medication data and laboratory and radiological examination results.
Following a pilot, the HKSTP HA Data Collaboration Lab will officially open sometime in October and begin accepting five-day data access requests from 1,400 HKSTP companies, mainly biotech and healthcare companies and their partners and researchers.
To maintain the security and privacy of the database, HKSTP has implemented strict measures, including surveillance systems and a dedicated data access area. The database is isolated from the Internet while downloading, saving, or printing data is disabled. The company has also formed two committees that will ensure compliance with data protection, privacy and clinical research ethics.
THE GREATER CONTEXT
The HKSTP HA Data Collaboration Lab was established in response to the Hong Kong CEO’s 2021 policy speech, which tasked both HA and HKSTP to promote better collaboration and data sharing between the R&D and healthcare sectors. Until now, access to the HA Self-Service Data Platform was only intended for scientific research and publications in a few secure locations.
In other related news, the HKSTP also recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hong Kong Department of Health to work on “innovative solutions” to accelerate the digitalization of the department’s public health functions. They plan to focus on developing solutions to support smart clinics and data collaboration, among other identified areas of collaboration.
ON THE RECORD
“This is a big moment in our mission to accelerate healthcare transformation and increase the capacity and quality of healthcare in Hong Kong at all levels,” said HA CEO Dr. Tony Ko on the launch of the HKSTP HA Data Collaboration Lab.
“Seamless data collaboration between hospitals, academia and industry will drive Hong Kong’s healthcare transformation and digital economy ambitions,” said Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP.