“The world is now at the start of the 2009 influenza pandemic,” Dr Margaret Chan Director-General of the World Health Organization said at a press conference last week.  “Nearly 30,000 confirmed cases have been reported in 74 countries … and no previous pandemic has been detected so early or watched so closely, in real-time, right at the very beginning”.

This is an extremely worrying time for us all and requires a strong focus by all governments to share data and help combat this pandemic.  I don’t know about you, but I am concerned.  Many years ago an outbreak of this sort would have happened without our knowing about it so quickly, and in so much detail.  It is significant to see the words “in real-time” spoken by Dr. Chan.  We live in a real-time world where incidents are reported across the airwaves as they happen.   No doubt, pharmaceutical companies around the world are working 24×7 to analyze data and help develop vaccines to combat the ongoing threat.  To do this, governments need to collaborate and share data.

Two weeks ago The Australian (Australia’s largest newspaper) reported on the need for real-time data to combat this outbreak.

No doubt we will continue to hear about the complexity of pulling together data from different sources, in different formats and the challenge of delivering a holistic view of data.  Well, I’m sorry, this is the 21st century. We live in a world where banks can process trillions of transactions and systems can deliver terabytes of data for analytical requirements.  Governments need to work together – to collaborate on this and other matters – whether it be dealing with this pandemic, or working together to lower carbon emissions through the Kyoto protocol.  You see, it’s all about the data – finding it, pulling it together, analyzing it and then acting upon it.  If there was ever a more profound demonstration of the need for data integration, then I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.

Now more than ever governments around the world need to act.