laboratory informatics
➤
analytics and data science consulting firm, Tessella, which is part of engineering consultancy Altran. ‘Of course there are technical considerations when managing, formatting and transferring data outside of your firewall, but it is critical that everyone involved in a collaboration or partnership must know who owns the transferred data, who is allowed to see that data, and how that data should be transferred between partners. Accidentally sending information to the wrong client, partner or collaborator could have catastrophic consequences.’ While there have historically been concerns
about putting sensitive information outside of corporate firewalls into the cloud, companies are now starting to embrace cloud solutions, Bruton points out. ‘Fears about the security of cloud as a platform for managing research data and other sensitive information are not unfounded, but we need to focus more on whether people might unwittingly give security or access keys to individuals who aren’t authorised, or whether data is being sent through insecure mechanisms.’ Work in a multi-occupancy or collaborative
laboratory and the security issues become even more acute, because data may be leſt on screen, or be accessible in notebooks, printed reports or datasheets. Analytical results are also held in instrumentation such as mass spectrometers, and will have to be cleared from the instrument’s storage, Bruton points out. ‘Te first questions that need to
8 SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING WORLD
be asked when setting up collaborative or externalised partnerships are, “who is going to be interacting with my data? Are they researchers, managers, or administrators, for example? Who will they interact with?” And then we ask: “Where are the touch points for potential security issues?” ’ It can be a good idea to offer personnel
some sort of training so that they are aware of potential issues, they are confident using the informatics soſtware, and they know how to negotiate and adhere to the security measures
for soſtware systems and solutions. Vendors are building in flexibility and ease of configurability, so that many different types of organisations can set up and provide access to specific data collections.’ Choosing the right solution, whether cloud
or on premise, will depend on the type of information that is going to be exchanged, and how many partners there will be. And, from a utilitarian perspective, you need to ensure that data can be sent in a format that doesn’t compromise its integrity, or its utility
COLLABORATIVE SOFTWARE
THAT SITS IN THE CLOUD OFFERS SOME OF THE MOST SECURE PLATFORMS FOR EXCHANGING INFORMATION PAUL BRUTON, TESSELLA
in place, Bruton suggests. ‘It’s particularly important to understand not just who owns the data, but who can publish it, and who can use it to make decisions.’ Collaborative soſtware that sits in the
cloud offers a very secure platform for exchanging information, Bruton states. ‘Soſtware developers should look to meet Jericho Forum guidelines that define both the areas and the principles on which to base a de-perimeterised future, and which offer a benchmark for assessing standards
by the recipient. When thinking about the most appropriate soſtware to facilitate the management of externalised research, it’s important to start from a position of ‘need’, Bruton stresses. Put in place a safe, secure and easily negotiated platform that will fulfil the needs of externalised work, and the risks of accidental inappropriate human behaviour are reduced: ‘But it’s important to remember that a soſtware solution is effectively like a manual car. It’s still the people who will be changing the gears.’l
@scwmagazine l
www.scientific-computing.com
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