A big data repository and architecture for managing hearing loss related data

The vast amount of data, which arise in healthcare applications makes traditional data processing technology inadequate and requires the use of fast emerging big data technologies to cope with key challenges, including data heterogeneity, pace of acquisition, size, privacy and security. Addressing these challenges requires a shift from traditional data analysis systems and techniques to big data management and processing platforms as well as big data analytics centric architectures. In this paper, we introduce such an architecture. The architecture has been developed to support the acquisition and analysis of big data sets regarding hearing loss and the provision of related healthcare services for the purpose of informing public health policy making. The paper provides an overview of the system and presents the outcomes of an initial evaluation of its performance.