laboratory informatics
conclusions being drawn from an incomplete data set. Despite this, the need for better ways to share
data is fundamental to the future and the point was emphasised by Gerhard Noelken, business IT lead for Pfizer. At present, he said, laboratory scientists oſten claim that it is quicker and easier to repeat the experiment than to look for the data from an earlier one. Moreover, between 10 per cent and 25 per cent of data records contain errors or missing values. A three per cent error rate could push costs up by 30 per cent, he said.
So several pharmaceutical companies have come together in the Allotrope Foundation to build an open framework for laboratory data using common information standards. On the technical side, Allotrope is working with the German soſtware company Osthus to create a commercial-quality framework with demonstration soſtware to acquire, record, and automatically archive HPLC-UV data. But as Wolfgang Colsman, chief technology officer of Osthus told the meeting, it is not enough to acquire, record and archive data: ‘Finding and
searching, to get the data back, is critical to archiving.’ Te project was being guided by the ‘4Rs’ – data had to be retrievable, readable, re- processible, and re-usable. Te sheer monetary value of being able to
‘breathe new life into dead data’ was starkly illustrated by Nick Nugent from ACD/Labs who pointed out that searching for data was now taking longer, simply because so much data was being generated. Creating laboratory reports was taking too much time and leading to ‘death by cut and paste,’ he said.
A dark Cloud for traditional lab informatics vendors?
Tom Wilkie wonders if the Cloud threatens traditional
informatics vendors J
ust as in consumer computing, where Microsoſt’s Office365 represents a shiſt to subscribing to soſtware rather than buying a package outright, so the
Paperless Lab Academy (PLA) in Amsterdam in May offered a glimpse of a future in which no one sold expensive stand-alone systems anymore but where laboratory informatics was delivered by soſtware as a service (SaaS). One trend driving the move to SaaS is that,
across all industries, according to Steve Yemm of Core Informatics, research and specialised capabilities are being outsourced and externalised. Such externalising trends are not confined to
research either but are pushing through in to development work and even to manufacturing. But there is a problem, he pointed out: how
do you capture and reuse your data across that chain of external contributors? Core Informatics’s solution is to offer its ‘Platform for Science’ as a unified technology incorporating the features of a LIMS, ELN and scientific datamanagement system (SDMS) and to do so in the form of soſtware as a service (SaaS). It is 100 per cent web-based, Yemm said, and can run on a
ONE TREND DRIVING THE MOVE TO SAAS IS THAT RESEARCH AND SPECIALISED CAPABILITIES ARE BEING OUTSOURCED
new collaborative environment for advanced biological, chemical, and materials experience development. With the power of Biovia, we will model the entire biosphere.’ Aside from the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, manufacturing companies, including Boeing, Toyota, Samsung, and others, are expected to be users of Biovia solutions to research new materials, such as smart coatings, lighter, stronger composites, and eco-sustainable materials.
The acquisition of Accelrys and the integration of several capabilities
www.scientific-computing.com l
within the new entity of Biovia appears to be part of a wider trend to consolidate disparate software packages under one over-arching product lifecycle management (PLM) program. Biovia offers the ability to manage product information at the molecular level in a scalable manner throughout the value chain and, according to Michael Shanler, research director at Gartner: ‘PLM software users focused on commercialisation and new product introduction will be exposed to R&D tools that expand product innovation and multichannel opportunities.’
@scwmagazine
company’s internal servers – a private cloud – on Core Informatics’s own servers, or even on Amazon Web Services. Companies could build applications on the platform and it was scalable to thousands of users if need be. Te pharmaceutical industry has concerns with
distributed computing. Its lifeblood is patenting, and it is also a highly-regulated industry. But, as Paul Denny-Gouldson from IDBS pointed out, the banking industry has even greater concerns about the integrity of its data yet it has successfully rolled out internet and mobile banking to its customers. ‘If the bankers can make this happen,’ he asked, ‘Why can’t we?’ But, he counselled, it had taken the banks 15 years to build up their electronic systems. He warned that organisations cannot absorb too much change too quickly. It may be different, he continued, in 10 years’ time when all laboratory instruments are connected to the network but ‘today you have to be pragmatic’.
NuGenesis Lab Management
➤
Sysytem Waters has released a new version of its NuGenesis Lab Management System. Improvements include NuGenesis SampleShare, an optional, secure web-client for sample submissions and results management; NuGenesis Stability, a stability protocol management and testing solution to facilitate a regimented workflow across lab operations; NuGenesis Connectors, a bi-directional link between lab systems and business applications; and Paradigm
Scientific Search, a fully integrated scientific search solution for text, documents, and science objects. The NuGenesis Lab Management System is a user-centric platform that aims to provide the benefits of a scientific data management system (SDMS), electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) and laboratory execution system (LES) within one solution. Its centralised data repository facilitates compliance with regulatory requirements and laws such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), US FDA 21 CFR Part 11, and other US government regulations.
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