Today, technologies such as biosensors and augmented reality, and emerging behaviors such as self-tracking and data-donorship, provide glimpses into the innovation landscape reshaping the future of health and well-being. In the next decade, personal health and well-being ecologies will be shaped by an exponential growth in the amount of data that people will need to absorb, track and use to improve the quality of their lives.

As we move through the care-seeking process, we’ll generate data as we identify symptoms, receive diagnosises, pursue treatments and manage conditions over time. Even the purchasing cycle for everyday items, that meet needs like food, transportation, and entertainment, will create vast amount of new data. In addition, our digital footprints will reveal patterns in our health behaviors, and allow us to see the well-being affinities we share with others. All of these kinds of data, if used appropriately, will have tremendous value. But unlocking this potential will require a systematic view of the long-term possibilities.

In 2012, the Health Horizons team will build on our current research lens of well-being ecosystems to forecast this new innovation landscape. We will explore how data and information at the scales of bodies, networks, and environments will create opportunities for institutions to identify and develop new kinds of health interventions. We will also identify emerging consumer behaviors that reveal individual and collective strategies for pursuing well-being, as people grapple with challenges ranging from information overload to tensions around trust and privacy.

2012 Deliverable Summary

• Innovations in Health Information Ecosystems Map of the Decade
  A map that will forecast the changes in needs and capacities that will drive innovation in using information for increased capacities for well-being in the coming decade. This map will identify the critical capacities that will enable individuals and institutions to thrive in a future of abundant information ecosystems.

• Long-View Technology Perspective
  A forecast of the foundational technologies of health information ecosystems, ranging from the rapidly changing view of the next three years to the transformations that will unfold in the coming decades.

• Behavioral Forecasts and Scenarios
  A series of forecasts that will explore how patients and consumers will navigate an increasingly complex health information landscape in order to build capacities for health and well-being. These forecasts will focus on the behaviors that emerge in response to challenges and opportunities in health information ecosystems.

• Conferences:
  • June 13-14, 2012 Conference at the Mission Bay Center (San Francisco, California)
  • October 17-18, 2012 Conference (Palo Alto, California)
  • Annotated graphic recordings of both conferences.
  • Annotated PowerPoint Slides and material from conference presentations.

  
  

  Learn More...

  Please email Dawn Alva or call her at 650-233-9585 for more information about membership in the Health Horizons Program.

  You may also download a full 2012 Health Horizons Research Agenda (PDF).