The leaders of major international life-science data resources have today called for a global coalition ‘to collectively support (...) data resources deemed essential to the work of life science researchers, educators, and innovators worldwide'.
The signatories of the Call for action - published today in Nature - are senior managers of key databases and leaders of major funding organisations across the world. ELIXIR has actively participated in the development of the call, following a first meeting hosted by the Human Frontiers Science Programme in late 2016.
The document also identified the main shortcomings of the current funding of life-science data infrastructures: the development of data resources relies on short-term, project-based funding cycles where grants applications for data infrastructures compete with proposals for new research. The coalition suggests that more fit for purpose infrastructure funding models should be developed by funders.
To establish the core data resources eligible for international support, the coalition proposes to define metrics to measure the impact, costs and benefits of each resource, and help to assess the fraction of total research funding needed. ELIXIR’s work to develop a set of Core Data Resources has been instrumental in highlighting the benefits of this approach.
The full version of the Call for action is available as a preprint at bioRxiv.
- Data management: A global coalition to sustain core data. Nature 543, 179 (09 March 2017) doi:10.1038/543179a
ELIXIR Core Data resources
The present global initiative is in line with ELIXIR's work towards establishing a set of ELIXIR Core Data Resources, which will act as flagships of excellence, both within ELIXIR and the wider bioinformatics community.
ELIXIR has already developed a set of indicators used to identify ELIXIR Core Data Resources (published in the ELIXIR channel on F1000 Research), and begun the process of selecting the Core data resources from among services managed by ELIXIR Nodes.
Following reviews by an independent panel of experts, the ELIXIR Head of Nodes Committee, and the ELIXIR Scientific Advisory Board, the selection process will be completed in the first half of 2017.