The alpha version of the CDEC Open Health Data Platform offers a tantalising glimpse into what big data can do to improve healthcare. This site uses data from sources like the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) and shows how it can be turned into visualisations and analysis to answer specific health-related questions.

The initial release, which focuses on a small number of datasets including data about GP prescriptions and diabetes prevalence to show the extent of diabetes treatment in the UK, is a request for comment from the UK  innovator community. Specifically sought are views on functionality to include and the future data sets to incorporate.

The outline business case for developing the tool suggests potentially many profitable opportunities particularly for micro-enterprises and SMEs.

An extremely exciting venture, much to be encouraged.