The aim of this conference and seminar is to discuss the challenges and potentials of data collection and usage in healthcare. Improvement of quality and management of healthcare services informed by data has long been a vision for healthcare practitioners, administrators, decision makers, regulatory agencies and IT system providers. The construction and development of information infrastructures in healthcare (IIH) has been ongoing for decades, but the focus has until recently mainly been on collecting and storing data. Now the focus is on combining, analyzing and processing ever more heterogeneous, voluminous and fast real-time data for the purpose of improved care, efficiency and better management.

The potentials of data and datafication are undoubtedly substantial. However, likewise are the changes of datafication. The transformation of organizations, practices, roles and responsibilities, is paramount and in the field of data studies this is also well documented (See literature below). The work implied in producing, formatting and infrastructuring data and for organizations to become data driven is huge. At the same time, this work also often remains invisible and unaccounted for.

The conference seeks to promote a dual vision of datafication where both the potentials and the challenges of datafication in healthcare may be voiced and presenters are asked to engage this dual vision in their presentation.

The conference is organized with the aim of bringing various actors working with datafication into dialogue between and with the other participants. The organizers will recruit and welcome presenters from data studies, computer science, IT providers and developers, healthcare professionals and governmental bodies working with datafication in the U.S and Denmark.          

Through this conference, we are interested in exploring challenges and potentials of datafication in healthcare. We are also interested in how datafication of healthcare transforms the roles of different actors such as clinicians, clerical staff, patients, care givers, healthcare administrators and decision makers. We, the organizers, believe that a better understanding of these issues is crucial for both understanding the effects of datafication and for building purposeful healthcare data infrastructures, and properly using the vast amount of data produced to monitor and improve the quality and management of healthcare. Last, but not least, the conference is intended to explore and fertilize future collaboration between the participants.

The conference on March 19th will provide talks by speakers for a larger audience. The seminar on March 20^th will be less formal and provide people the opportunity to present their own projects on datafication in healthcare and network with others interested in conducting research into this topic. Registration for both are required. For the seminar an abstract of 300-500 words is required (please remember to provide name, email-address, and affiliation). Please send your abstract to clausbossen@cc.au.dk. Participants will be expected to make short presentations during the seminar.

The conference is a follow-up to a workshop held at UC Irvine, U.S.A in August 2017. It is a product of collaboration between Danish and U.S. researchers working in the field of information studies and health informatics.