IBM and Apple team up on big data health mission

Watson Health launched to harness the data collected from Apple devices

IBM has launched a new business unit which will focus on analysing health and fitness data collected from Apple devices as it looks to bolster its position in the big-data space.

Watson Health Cloud, which was unveiled in the US last night, is a "secure and open platform" which it is hoped will allow medical staff and health companies to "dramatically" advance the effectiveness of their care through data analytics.

Big Blue claims that over a lifetime, one person will generate one million gigabytes of health-related data thanks to new wearable and mobile devices, the equivalent of 300 million books.

To take advantage of that data, IBM has signed up Apple as a key partner which will provide Watson Health Cloud with data from users' Apple devices.

"The results will be better insights, real-time feedback and recommendations to improve everything from personal health and wellness to acute and chronic care," IBM said.

On top of its tie-up with Apple and creating the Watson Health business unit, Big Blue has also snapped up health-focused US tech firms Explorys and Phytel, both for undisclosed amounts.

"The acquisitions bolster IBM's efforts to apply advanced analytics and cognitive computing to help primary care providers, large hospital systems and physician networks improve healthcare quality and effect healthier patient outcomes," the vendor said.

John Kelly, IBM's senior vice president of solutions portfolio and research, said IBM's latest moves will revolutionise the healthcare space.

"All this data can be overwhelming for providers and patients alike, but it also presents an unprecedented opportunity to transform the ways in which we manage our health," he said. "We need better ways to tap into and analyse all this information in real time to benefit patients and to improve wellness globally.

"Only IBM has the advanced cognitive capabilities of Watson and can pull together the vast ecosystem of partners, practitioners and researchers needed to drive change, as well as to provide the open, secure and scalable platform needed to make it all possible."