The environmental sustainability of data-driven health research: a case-study of genomics and digital phenotyping in the UK

UK data-driven health research, and the technologies it produces (DHRTs), which include the use of advanced computing and 'big data', have been promised to benefit current and future patient health. Alongside this, the databases supporting DHRTs have important environmental and health impacts because of the huge amounts of energy they use and carbon dioxide emissions they generate. While improvements in energy efficiency and the move to renewable energy may negate these issues, the pace of innovation could lead to a situation in which renewable energy sources are over-burdened, leading to increases in non-renewable energy consumption. With concerns about climate change at their highest, it is timely and urgent to consider DHRT's environmental footprint through responsible innovation processes. This project's aim is to build an empirical knowledge that identifies the ethical, social and regulatory issues associated with the environmental impacts of DHRTs through a qualitative, UK perspective, case-study approach.