Webinar Wednesday - The Potential of Synthetic Data to Enable Innovation: An Alberta Case Study

Alberta has a rich and unique health dataset that has been the topic of discussion among innovators for some time. Having this data accessible to conduct research, test and validate products, conduct simulations and analytical analysis could make a significant contribution to the health innovation ecosystem. However, access to this data is limited and many organizations have faced roadblocks when requesting access. 

This webinar will provide an overview of how  a multi-partner collaboration was launched to address data access barriers in Alberta through the generation of synthetic data, aiming to achieve 4 key objectives:

1. Establish a process for generating synthetic data that is representative of an existing health database.
2. Identify and address privacy and security concerns to enable future use and distribution of the generated synthetic data set, while demonstrating that the use poses minimal confidentiality risk.
3. Analyze and validate the synthetic data set to better understand future utility.
4. Socialize the results and outcomes to key stakeholders to assist in the development of any required data access policy changes.

Presented by: 

Dr. Dean Eurich is a Professor and Program Director for the Clinical Epidemiology program within the School of Public Health.  Nationally, he is the Chair for the Personal Awards Committee and Board Member of the National Research Council (NRC) of Diabetes Canada. His current focus is on Health Outcomes in patients with chronic diseases as well as quality improvement initiatives with several First Nations communities in the Province.

Chris Carvalho is a health technology expert and consultant and has led multiple large scale digital health transformation initiatives over the past 15 years. He is currently engaged with clients across the country to assist in the implementation and adoption of digital health products within our healthcare system. Chris is currently leading the Synthetic Data Initiative for Health Cities, an economic development organization created to catalyze and accelerate innovation in the health sector in Canada.

Brian Hamilton is the President of B W Hamilton Consulting Inc.  Brian has over 20 years’ experience in data privacy, both as regulator and as privacy officer. Brian is a nationally recognized expert in privacy impact assessment (PIA), health informatics privacy, incident response, and privacy offence investigation. His company provides advice to senior leaders on the application of access and privacy legislation, information governance, and information security.