Big Data in Healthcare, Aragon

BIGAN is the Big Data project of the Department of Health of the Government of Aragon, created to improve healthcare using data that are routinely collected within the public health system of Aragon. Development of the project has been entrusted to the Aragon Institute of Health Sciences (IACS).

The purpose of the project is to integrate all data collected within the health system on a technological platform, where it can be analysed by healthcare professionals, managers, educators, and researchers. The ultimate goal is to improve the healthcare system and the health of residents in Aragon through data observation. To achieve this, collection, analysis, and sharing of information between all involved stakeholders is vital.

BIGAN is a technological infrastructure owned by the Government of Aragon, managed by the Aragon Institute of Health Sciences, and financed by the Department of Health and the Aragon Health Service, in which information from health information systems and other useful sources is captured, anonymized, safeguarded, and analysed, in order to fulfil BIGAN’s objectives.

BIGAN guarantees the protection and anonymization of data at all times. No researchers who use the data will ever have access to any personal information that would enable identification of either the patient or their environment.

BIGAN and the development of the project is regulated by ORDER SAN/1355/2018, of August 1, published in the Official Gazette of Aragon on August 22 and in which the terms of its creation are established.