The goal of the Interoperability Platform is to help people and machines to discover, access, integrate and analyse biological data.
It encourages the life science community to adopt standardised file formats, metadata, vocabularies and identifiers and works internationally to achieve its goals.
Platform highlights
- FAQ : Interoperability Platform Frequently Asked Questions
- Recommended Interoperability Resources (RIRs): as reviewed and selected by ELIXIR.
What the Platform does
- Identifies and promotes interoperability best practices for data providers and data integrators.
- Delivers the interoperability services that underpin ELIXIR Communities and Platforms.
To achieve these goals, the Platform's work is split into four tasks spanning 2019-23:
Task 1: Alignment of the Interoperability Platform FAIR Service Architecture Framework with the Data Platform, Communities and ELIXIR Projects
Leaders: Tony Burdett (EMBL-EBI) and Susanna-Assunta Sansone (ELIXIR-UK)
Goal: To better align the ELIXIR Data and the Interoperability Platforms’ activities with the ELIXIR Communities’ needs by creating a FAIR Services Architecture Framework.
Activities:
- Defining and promoting the adoption of a set of Interoperability Platform flagship services from existing and new RIR essential to the definition, execution and dissemination of interoperability stories
- Coordinating with the ELIXIR Training Platform via webinars to support the promotion, adoption and implementation of EIP flagship services in the ELIXIR Communities.
- Defining, soliciting and developing interoperability stories representing different ELIXIR Communities supported by a set of common Interoperability Platform flagship services.
- Aligning and disseminating interoperability stories for inclusion in the EIP Knowledge Hub from Task 2 of the Interoperability Platform.
The FAIR Services Architecture Framework
The FAIR Services Architecture Framework demonstrating impact, benefits and actions from which interoperability stories must contain elements of each of the three layers as defined in Task 1.
Task 2: An EIP KnowledgeHub
Leader: Peter Maccallum (ad interim Platform Coordinator, ELIXIR Hub)
Goal: To establish an ELIXIR Interoperability Platform KnowledgeHub as a systematic approach to collect and disseminate knowledge.
Activities:
- Developing the EIP Knowledge Hub using the ELIXIR RDMkit and the FAIR CookBook as key components of the knowledge dissemination platform.
- Developing a KnowledgeHub for common practitioners working in research data management such as data stewards, developers and researchers requiring knowledge of FAIR and interoperability best practices.
- Developing a KnowledgeHub for adavanced practitioners working in data stewardship, infrastructure and tool development that are developing ontologies, standards and FAIR services.
Related links
- Bioschemas: Schema.org extension tailored for life science concepts.
- Identifiers.org: a resolving system to reference data in both a location-independent and resource-dependent manner.
- Get involved - join the Identifiers group
- Ontology Lookup Service (OLS): a repository for biomedical ontologies that aims to provide a single point of access to the latest ontology versions.
- FAIRsharing.org: curated, informative and educational resource on data and metadata standards, inter-related to databases and data policies.
- CWL for Tool Interoperability: Common Workflow Language to aid interoperable software development.
Commissioned Services
The Interoperability Platform is involved in a number of short-term, technical projects called Commissioned Services. These are currently:
- Alignment of the Interoperability Platform FAIR Service Architecture Framework with the Data Platform, Communities, and ELIXIR Projects
- An EIP KnowledgeHub
- Bioschemas Coordinator
For completed studies see the Commissioned Services page.
Leadership
Susanna-Assunta Sansone(ELIXIR UK)
(ELIXIR Netherlands)
Tony Burdett(EMBL-EBI)
(ad interim Platform Coordinator, ELIXIR Hub)
Clare Garrard(Platform Officer, ELIXIR Hub)
Find out more
- Contact Peter Mccallum (peter.maccallum [at] elixir-europe.org).
- Ask us a question with our online form.
- ELIXIR Scientific Programme 2019-23, where you can find the Platform's plans for the next five years.
- Browse the list of Interoperability services provided by ELIXIR Nodes.
- Search for BYOD workshops in the Events section or ELIXIR's TeSS training portal.
- Learn more about the FAIR Principles:
- Dutch Techcentre for Life Sciences (DTL) - the ELIXIR Dutch node website.
- FORCE11
- Wilkinson, M. D. et al. The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci. Data 3:160018 doi: 10.1038/sdata.2016.18 (2016)
- ELIXIR Interoperability Platform (EIP) roadmap (2016-19)
