Institutions, infrastructures, and data friction – reforming secondary use of health data in Finland

Ville Aula

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: New data-driven ideas of healthcare have increased pressures to reform existing data infrastructures. This article explores the role of data governing institutions during a reform of both secondary health data infrastructure and related legislation in Finland. The analysis elaborates on recent conceptual work on data journeys and data frictions, connecting them to institutional and regulatory issues. The study employs an interpretative approach, using interview and document data. The results show the stark contrast between the goals of open and Big Data inspired reforms and the existing institutional realities. The multiple tensions that emerged during the process indicate how data frictions emanate to the institutional level, and how mundane data practices and institutional dynamics are intertwined. The article argues that in the Finnish case, public institutions acted as sage-guards of public interest, preventing more controversial parts from passing. Finally, it argues that initiating regulatory and infrastructural reforms simultaneously was beneficial for solving the tensions of the initiative and analysing either side separately would have produced misleading accounts of the overall initiative. The results highlight the benefits of analysing institutional dynamics and data practices as connected issues.

Keywords: UKRI; fund (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 13 pages
Date: 2019-09-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Big Data and Society, 30, September, 2019, 6(2). ISSN: 2053-9517

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:101454

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