ABSTRACT
The microscope was invented four centuries ago to see things otherwise invisible to the human eye. In a similar way, Erik Brynjolfsson, an economist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, believes data measurement is the modern equivalent of the microscope (Lohr, 2012), providing granular perspectives and insights that are not otherwise discoverable. Silicon Valley companies such as Google and Facebook are constantly monitoring user behavior to improve the experience of its users, while also delivering targeted advertisements. The medical field should be adopting data measurement and analysis, like we did with the microscope, to improve patient care and treatment optimization through a robust discovery and validation process.
