Genomic data is immensely valuable for drug development and as a diagnostic tool in clinical settings. With the advent of next-generation sequencing instruments, the cost of data production was
tremendously reduced. However, new challenges emerge as more population-scale genomics initiatives take off.
Firstly, the sheer volume of data means that a large proportion of budgets will have to be diverted towards storage hardware for these data. Secondly, these data are highly identifiable and must be stored securely in order to meet strict national and regional compliance regulations.
This project will offer industry and academics the opportunity to learn about best practices for storing genomic and other data. Key areas that will be addressed include how to reduce the cost of storage by leveraging state of the art genomic compression tools and how to achieve compliance by leveraging software that is architected to encrypt NGS and other data in a secure yet accessible approach.
Impact Statement
By attending this one-day course, attendees will be equipped with knowledge of the best practices for securely storing NGS and other data in a cost-effective manner. This knowledge will benefit projects across the ELIXIR Nodes and their national stakeholders, in both academia and industry by ensuring that budgets are designed more optimally, ensuring resources can be allocated towards research purposes while making the cost of storage manageable.
ELIXIR Luxembourg’s services are mainly centred around repositories for translational medicine data as well as data access and computing. An example would be the storage of data generated in the IMI Oncotrack project. Therefore, it would be invaluable for the Node to exchange knowledge in this area with Petagene, who is a leader in the area of cost-effective data compression and encryption. This workshop will be the basis for future collaboration between Petagene and ELIXIR Luxembourg, with a scope to expand to other ELIXIR Nodes.