TECHNOLOGY TRENDS | LABORATORY INFORMATICS GUIDE 2013
thin client, access from anywhere, low start- up costs and centralised support have both financial and functional attractions. Pitted against these are concerns about access control, security and data integrity. Choosing the cloud is a risk-based decision
but, if confidence grows sufficiently, it is a path likely to be adopted on a wide scale. From the vendors’ perspective, they see some uncertainty and misunderstandings about ‘cloud’, mainly related to the security of data. Shah, Williams and Chris Molloy, VP of corporate development at IDBS, concur that ‘cloud’ will happen and will become an essential strategy for a significant proportion of the laboratory sector, although Gallagher, with a number of customers already using the cloud, reports that his customers perceive the security risk being no different from losing a laptop. In order to address the question of
access and interpret vast collections of data) and ‘social’ (collaborative tools).
GOING MOBILE The big attraction of mobile devices for end users is portability. A common complaint in the transition from paper systems to electronic is the loss of portability of, for example, a paper lab notebook. The form factor of a laptop computer goes part way to resolving this concern, but the emergence of compact, lightweight tablets holds far more potential. Although tablets are often considered to be ‘data consumers’, great for reviewing data but less effective for data entry, careful design of the user interface can optimise their potential for narrow, dedicated functions. Kim Shah, for example, identifies typical features of mobile devices such as GPS, cameras and 3G/4G connectivity as offering significant potential for accessing data from remote locations or for capturing certain types of data in the field. IDBS has a similar perspective, recognising
that mobile can be suitable for specific functions or tasks, on the basis that the user interface is adapted to the features of the device. For Steve Gallagher, CEO of Dotmatics, the user experience can be enhanced by the use of mobile devices featuring simple, gesture- based interactions for on-screen navigation, consistent with typical consumer applications. Furthermore, the adoption of web technologies
creates the opportunity to design a platform that supports all types of end-user devices, a view also held by Paolo Concio, sales director EMEA, LabVantage, who believes that now, more than ever, critical laboratory data can be made available anytime, anywhere, on any device in a global wireless and mobile environment. The adoption of mobile devices for
informatics-based tasks raises a further question about how the host system is deployed and, in particular, how the mobile device communicates with the host. Synchronisation is one option, which has the advantage of not requiring remote connectivity, but means that data must be held locally on the device. Wireless connectivity to a hosted system (SaaS or cloud) has the benefit of direct access to the system.
TO THE CLOUD From a business perspective, the cloud offers an effective solution to the increasing demand for the implementation of collaboration tools across multiple departments, multiple sites and different geographies, including outsourced operations where the practicalities of deployment are largely limited to configuration, rather than physical installation of hardware and software. The benefits of a
working with laboratory informatics tools’
level of interest in how consumer technologies can enhance the user experience of
‘There is a growing
what more can laboratory informatics do to improve scientific output, it is worth looking back at the fundamental nature of the scientific method and consider where there may be further opportunity. The scientific method is an established process that supports the formulation, testing and modification of hypotheses by means of systematic observation, measurement and experimentation. A chief characteristic of the scientific method is that scientists seek to let the evidence (data) speak for itself, supporting the conclusions or the theory when the hypothesis is confirmed, and challenging the hypothesis when its predictions prove false. This aspect of the scientific method has traditionally been conducted by dialogue and debate, and a successful outcome helps contribute not only to the pool of scientific knowledge, but also to the formulation of further
hypotheses. In other words, the scientific method is a continuous process in which ideas are tested through experimentation, and conclusions and further ideas are generated, which in turn lead to the design of new experiments. In the words of Chris Molloy, science is the
search for shared knowledge and is actually all about communication. Molloy makes reference to the writer Steven Johnson, who reported in a
TED.com talk, his research into where scientific innovation really takes place. He discovered that most real innovation occurred through social interaction at regular face-to- face lab meetings. There, ideas are shared,
www.scientific-computing.com/lig2013 | 7
➤
Shutterstock
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40