Unlocking the power of data for global health equity
This spring, my two daughters decided to create an ecosystem in a jar. They collected moss, bark, leaves and a few stones and set it up in our kitchen in a closed jar. It reminded me of Campbell’s role in the evidence ecosystem for global health equity and our partnership with World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day.
The Campbell Collaboration promotes positive social and economic change through the production and use of systematic reviews and other evidence synthesis for evidence-based policy and practice. Each Campbell systematic review is free to publish for authors and open access, and we now have our first journal impact factor. We have rigorous conflict of interest policies and each review appraises and synthesises all relevant evidence to answer what works for social policy.
Campbell is proud to be a partner of the World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day because we believe in interdependence of knowledge in social and health sectors. Our evidence on improving education systems, promoting food security and countering violent extremism contribute to improved well-being and a better world.
Our Campbell 2023-2025 strategy prioritises evidence on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For example, our annual conference this week in Ottawa, the What Works Global Summit, has a number of sessions with policy partners like the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF and Public Safety Canada on how to collectively build the evidence base to help achieve the SDGs.
To maximise our contribution to the evidence ecosystem, Campbell approved a policy to expect data sharing in 2021. We believe that making our data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-useable (FAIR) is needed to build a sustainable, equitable ecosystem of evidence. We require data sharing statements for all of our reviews now, through our new editorial system, ScholarOne, through which all titles and articles are submitted.
Making this data available for re-use can facilitate testing and evaluation of machine-learning applications for evidence synthesis, which aims to bring efficiencies to the systematic review process and more rapidly meet decisionmakers’ needs for evidence. This is particularly important in situations where evidence is rapidly emerging and living synthesis is needed. Campbell is exploring partnerships with software developers to evaluate applications of machine learning and AI for Campbell systematic reviews, particularly since social sector evidence may be complex and have different clusters of evidence. We are also collaborating with people and organizations developing platforms for data sharing such as SRDR+.
Last week, I accidentally broke the jar with my daughters’ ecosystem. I couldn’t help but think that the broken jar was an opportunity to release the power of that ecosystem back to the wider world. Fortunately, they saw it my way. Sharing data is an opportunity to evaluate the uses of that data, to improve systematic review processes. And ultimately, sharing data will help us achieve our mission of “better evidence for a better world”.
Conflict of interest
Dr Vivian Welch is a member of the World EBHC Day Steering Committee
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this World EBHC Day Blog, as well as any errors or omissions, are the sole responsibility of the author and do not represent the views of the World EBHC Day Steering Committee, Official Partners or Sponsors; nor does it imply endorsement by the aforementioned parties.
