University researchers get remote access to vast trove of Hong Kong health care data

  • Access to the roughly 5 billion pieces of data, compiled over 25 years, had previously been available only at a government data laboratory
  • Now dedicated rooms with secure connections to the data set will be established at three local universities

Dr Joanna Pang and Dennis Lee at the Hospital Authority's data lab. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Local university researchers will soon be able to access a vast trove of government health care data from the comfort of their campuses following a move by authorities aimed at accelerating medical innovation in Hong Kong.

A total of 5 billion pieces of clinical data, culled from the records of all the city’s public hospitals over the past 25 years, have been made available since 2019 for academic researchers from Hong Kong’s eight government-funded universities at the Hospital Authority Data Collaboration Laboratory, now in Kowloon Bay.

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