Big Data could help prevent suicides in the U.S. Navy

A new software named “Commander’s Risk Mitigation Dashboard” contains information from over 22 separate Navy and Department of Defense databases had been executed. All data is tagged to the unit level and this could be the life-saver for the U.S. Navy. The software was launched at a recent forum by the chief of naval personnel, Vice Adm. John B. Nowell. The chief also highlighted the increase in suicides, referring to the number of emails which contained a report of suicide.

“It may feel like “big brother is watching”, but this is a necessary step to bring down the rates” said Nowell. He further added that the system would allow them to easily raise red flags whenever they saw trends so that they could get ahead of the issues and not be behind them picking up the pieces. One of the key measures could be opening up of the leaders. If leaders start sharing their own experiences with negative feelings, it would give a lot of hope and courage to those who might be suffering from the same feelings and help them keep up and move forward.

Compared to the year 2006, the suicide rates are now doubled. The likely factors behind the increased rate could be persistent understaffing, high pressure and long hours, as pointed out by the prevention experts.