Organizations around the globe are dumping terabytes of data in digital landfills, whereas they should be turning these into goldmines, saving years and millions (if not billions) in drug discovery, product development etc. in the process.
The 21st century was the start of the recycling revolution, we began recycling a lot of common household waste that ended up in landfills before; cans, bottles, plastic, paper etc. Now as we move into the third decade of the millennium, people in developed countries are experts in domestic recycling and it has become second nature to most of us. If we are no longer throwing away useful things from our own homes, then why are organizations “throwing away” useful and expensive research data?
Research data is an asset — why waste it?
Edwin Drake hit oil in 1859 for the first time (Drake’s Folly), labelling his new product “black gold”. In very much the same way, data has become our generations oil or “digital gold”. Following Drake’s Folly, the petroleum industry was launched paving the way to life as we have known it for the last 150 years or so. From crude oil to natural gas and all along the way, value is squeezed out of that valuable liquid until the very last drop. Recycling crude oil products, such as different sorts of plastic, has become mainstream and a very profitable business worldwide. This raises the question, why are we not doing this with our own research data? Re-working, re-using and re-sharing, squeezing the most value and bang for our buck.
Stay ahead of the game
According to the national geographic 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced and a whopping 79% (6.9 billion) of which ending up landfills or otherwise not recycled. There is a parallel to be drawn between this and data-driven organizations such as biopharmaceuticals companies: organizations across the globe are missing out on vital knowledge trapped within their colleagues devices and data silos. This, in turn, leads to needless time wasted redrafting and re-running experiments due to ignorance of data that could be used for the purpose. A problem that can be fixed, by making your own data easily findable and accessible, more value can be extracted from the same data.
Like the many benefits for recycling old plastic bottles and glass jars, forming new and inventive products. This same principle is what is putting some of the top pharmaceutical companies ahead of the rest. Implementing good data management procedures early on in the discovery journey ensures that no data is ever misplaced or siloed within a single group or individual within the organization. This for example allows a pharmaceutical organization to become much more efficient when discovering and developing new drugs.
Data and metadata management in the key
Metadata management is the key to all of the points previously discussed. Enforcing good metadata management rules within an organization, ensures that none of the extremely valuable data is lost. Different groups, colleagues that are not familiar with each other's work and even inter-organization sharing of public data can be achieved. Once a foundation has been set and metadata handling rules enforced, the work of building easy to use visualisation apps and other non-coding research tools can be built upon this. Therefore, exponentially accelerating the cadence upon which discovery can be done. The value to a research organization for this cannot be overstated.
A centralised data catalog with outstanding curation tools and an integrative search functionality will do the trick. Genestack ODM, our flagship software, is a purpose built Life Science Data management system that collates data from multiple sources, allowing automated metadata curation at scale and possessing a data catalog for data sharing and reuse across an orgainzation. With a continuous improvement mindset, a flexible and extensible architecture, Genestack ODM conveniently allows data recycling and reuse in real time and at scale.
A standard is being set for the future, much like Drake did all those years ago, collection in buckets and pails is being replaced by sophisticated mines, pumps and reserves. If organizations hit “black gold” again, would they waste it or save and reuse every last drop?
How we can help you with your Life Science Data landscape
We can help organizations like yours build a more integrated and scalable Life Science Data landscape - we work with both small and some of the largest organisations, including Roche, AstraZeneca, Unilever, Corteva and more. Get in touch today for a free consultation with our experts.
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