Lord Drayson seems a man on the move. As an amateur racing driver, it is perhaps an innate charateristic, and in the current debate around health data his foot is very much on the gas. I meet the former Labour government science and defence minister shortly after he lays out a bold new vision for the NHS at FutureScot's recent Digital Health & Care conference in Glasgow. Urbane and well-connected, Drayson is also a keen student of policy and how the arguments around big tech and health data are shaping up. For background, there is an intensifying argument that the NHS needs to make much more use of a still largely untapped goldmine of data, which could herald a new dawn in the way we diagnose, treat and manage disease – not to mention save billions of pounds annually.

Your data has value, but unlocking it for your own benefit is challenging. Understanding how valuable data are collected and approved for use can help you to get there. Two primary means for differentiating audiences by their data collection methods are site-authenticated data collection and people-based data collection, suggested a recent piece in BulletinHealthcare written by Justin Fadgen, chief corporate development officer for the firm. Site-authenticated data are sourced from individual authentication events, such as when a user completes an online form, and generally agrees to a privacy policy that includes a data use agreement. User data are then be combined with other data sources that add meaning, becoming the basis of advertising targeting for instance.

Sensyne Health, a London-based healthcare artificial intelligence (AI) company founded by biotech entrepreneur Paul Drayson, recently launched an initial public offering (IPO) on the London AIM market. Drayson's plan is to raise $78 million. It's just one of many companies that are exploiting advances in computing, data science and AI to help identify and develop potential new drugs. Drayson was formerly the UK's Minister of Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills until May 2010, and before that, Minister of State for Strategic Defence Acquisition Reform at the Ministry of Defence. Drayson co-founded vaccine maker PowderJect Pharmaceuticals in 1993 and sold it in 2003 to Chiron for 524 million pounds.