Facilitating open exchange of data and information

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2014. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Earth Science Informatics 8 (2015): 721-739, doi:10.1007/s12145-014-0202-2.By broad consensus, Open Data presents great value. However, beyond that simple statement, there are a number of complex, and sometimes contentious, issues that the science community must address. In this review, we examine the current state of the core issues of Open Data with the unique perspective and use cases of the ocean science community: interoperability; discovery and access; quality and fitness for purpose; and sustainability. The topics of Governance and Data Publication are also examined in detail. Each of the areas covered are, by themselves, complex and the approaches to the issues under consideration are often at odds with each other. Any comprehensive policy on Open Data will require compromises that are best resolved by broad community input. In the final section of the review, we provide recommendations that serve as a starting point for these discussions.The authors acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation through Grant Award No. OCE-1143683.2016-01-0

Facilitating open exchange of data and information

By broad consensus, Open Data presents great value. However, beyond that simple statement, there are a number of complex, and sometimes contentious, issues that the science community must address. In this review, we examine the current state of the core issues of Open Data with the unique perspective and use cases of the ocean science community: interoperability; discovery and access; quality and fitness for purpose; and sustainability. The topics of Governance and Data Publication are also examined in detail. Each of the areas covered are, by themselves, complex and the approaches to the issues under consideration are often at odds with each other. Any comprehensive policy on Open Data will require compromises that are best resolved by broad community input. In the final section of the review, we provide recommendations that serve as a starting point for these discussion

Facilitating open exchange of data and information

By broad consensus, Open Data presents great value. However, beyond that simple statement, there are a number of complex, and sometimes contentious, issues that the science community must address. In this review, we examine the current state of the core issues of Open Data with the unique perspective and use cases of the ocean science community: interoperability; discovery and access; quality and fitness for purpose; and sustainability. The topics of Governance and Data Publication are also examined in detail. Each of the areas covered are, by themselves, complex and the approaches to the issues under consideration are often at odds with each other. Any comprehensive policy on Open Data will require compromises that are best resolved by broad community input. In the final section of the review, we provide recommendations that serve as a starting point for these discussions.This is an author's peer-reviewed manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Springer and can be found at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-014-0202-

Report of the Research Coordination Network RCN : OceanObsNetwork, facilitating open exchange of data and information

The OceanObsNetwork goals and objectives are to foster a broad, multi-disciplinary dialogue, enabling more effective use of sustained ocean observatories and observing systems. To achieve these, the activities for the RCN include a working group titled “Facilitating Open Exchange of Data and Information.” Within this area 3 task teams were created dealing with elements that impact on open exchange of data and information. This report examines the foundation of Open Data and its importance to the international community, science, innovation and jobs. While the goal may be similar, the paths to Open Data are varied and drawing together a pervasive approach will take time. There are however, near term steps, technical and social, that could have significant impacts. Stimulating interdisciplinary collaboration occurs through adoption of common standards for data exchange, creation of information brokering for improved discovery and access and working toward common or defined vocabularies. Simply finding other scientists’ data has been noted as a major barrier for research. Open Data impinges on existing reward systems and social interactions. Areas that need to be addressed are the academic reward system (in terms of promotion and resources), the peer review panels and grant selection processes (in terms of acknowledging the importance and challenge of data collection) and the needs for acceptable citation mechanisms. Intellectual property should not be abandoned in an Open Data environment and managing IPR is necessary. A sustainable Open Data Policy is essential and sustainability is a matter for all parties, government, private sector, academia and non-profit organizations. As full implementation of Open Data will involve a change in practices in a number of research and publication activities, an end-to-end perspective and strategy would most likely allow a long-term sustainable path to be pursued. Various business models are discussed in the paper that would not have been considered a decade ago. These range from cloud storage to publication of data with Digital Object Identifiers. These set a possible foundation for the future.National Science Foundation through Grant Award No. OCE-1143683

Electronic health information exchange in underserved settings: examining initiatives in small physician practices & community health centers.

BackgroundHealth information exchange (HIE) is an important tool for improving efficiency and quality and is required for providers to meet Meaningful Use certification from the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However widespread adoption and use of HIE has been difficult to achieve, especially in settings such as smaller-sized physician practices and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). We assess electronic data exchange activities and identify barriers and benefits to HIE participation in two underserved settings.MethodsWe conducted key-informant interviews with stakeholders at physician practices and health centers. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and then coded in two waves: first using an open-coding approach and second using selective coding to identify themes that emerged across interviews, including barriers and facilitators to HIE adoption and use.ResultsWe interviewed 24 providers, administrators and office staff from 16 locations in two states. They identified barriers to HIE use at three levels-regional (e.g., lack of area-level exchanges; partner organizations), inter-organizational (e.g., strong relationships with exchange partners; achieving a critical mass of users), and intra-organizational (e.g., type of electronic medical record used; integration into organization's workflow). A major perceived benefit of HIE use was the improved care-coordination clinicians could provide to patients as a direct result of the HIE information. Utilization and perceived benefit of the exchange systems differed based on several practice- and clinic-level factors.ConclusionsThe adoption and use of HIE in underserved settings appears to be impeded by regional, inter-organizational, and intra-organizational factors and facilitated by perceived benefits largely at the intra-organizational level. Stakeholders should consider factors both internal and external to their organization, focusing efforts in changing modifiable factors and tailoring HIE efforts based on all three categories of factors. Collective action between organizations may be needed to address inter-organizational and regional barriers. In the interest of facilitating HIE adoption and use, the impact of interventions at various levels on improving the use of electronic health data exchange should be tested

The Non-Coding RNA Ontology : a comprehensive resource for the unification of non-coding RNA biology

In recent years, sequencing technologies have enabled the identification of a wide range of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Unfortunately, annotation and integration of ncRNA data has lagged behind their identification. Given the large quantity of information being obtained in this area, there emerges an urgent need to integrate what is being discovered by a broad range of relevant communities. To this end, the Non-Coding RNA Ontology (NCRO) is being developed to provide a systematically structured and precisely defined controlled vocabulary for the domain of ncRNAs, thereby facilitating the discovery, curation, analysis, exchange, and reasoning of data about structures of ncRNAs, their molecular and cellular functions, and their impacts upon phenotypes. The goal of NCRO is to serve as a common resource for annotations of diverse research in a way that will significantly enhance integrative and comparative analysis of the myriad resources currently housed in disparate sources. It is our belief that the NCRO ontology can perform an important role in the comprehensive unification of ncRNA biology and, indeed, fill a critical gap in both the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) Library and the National Center for Biomedical Ontology (NCBO) BioPortal. Our initial focus is on the ontological representation of small regulatory ncRNAs, which we see as the first step in providing a resource for the annotation of data about all forms of ncRNAs. The NCRO ontology is free and open to all users

Columbus: a solution using metadata for integrating document management, project hosting and document control in the construction industry

This thesis presents a solution for integrating document handling technologies within the construction industry using metadata in a novel way and providing a working solution in the form of an application called Columbus. The research analyses in detail the problem of project collaboration. It concentrates on the usage of document management, project hosting and document control systems as important enabling technologies. The creation, exchange and recording of information are addressed as key factors for having a unified document handling solution. Metadata is exploited as a technology providing for effective open information exchange within and between project participants. The technical issues relating to the use of metadata are addressed at length. The Columbus application is presented as a working solution to this problem. Columbus is currently used by over 20000 organisations in 165 countries and has become a standard for information exchange. The main benefit of Columbus has been in getting other project participants to send metadata with their electronic documents and in dealing with project archival. This has worked very well on numerous projects, saving countless man-hours of data input time, document cataloguing and searching. The application is presented in detail from both commercial and technical perspectives and is shown as an open solution, which can be extended by third parties. The commercial success of Columbus is discussed by means of a number of reviews and case studies that cover its usage within the industry. In 2000, it was granted an Institution of Civil Engineers' Special Award in recognition of its contribution to the Latham and Egan initiatives for facilitating information exchange within the construction industry

Harnessing Information Technology to Inform Patients Facing Routine Decisions: Cancer Screening as a Test Case

PURPOSE Technology could transform routine decision making by anticipating patients’ information needs, assessing where patients are with decisions and preferences, personalizing educational experiences, facilitating patient-clinician information exchange, and supporting follow-up. This study evaluated whether patients and clinicians will use such a decision module and its impact on care, using 3 cancer screening decisions as test cases. METHODS Twelve practices with 55,453 patients using a patient portal participated in this prospective observational cohort study. Participation was open to patients who might face a cancer screening decision: women aged 40 to 49 who had not had a mammogram in 2 years, men aged 55 to 69 who had not had a prostate-specific antigen test in 2 years, and adults aged 50 to 74 overdue for colorectal cancer screening. Data sources included module responses, electronic health record data, and a postencounter survey. RESULTS In 1 year, one-fifth of the portal users (11,458 patients) faced a potential cancer screening decision. Among these patients, 20.6% started and 7.9% completed the decision module. Fully 47.2% of module completers shared responses with their clinician. After their next office visit, 57.8% of those surveyed thought their clinician had seen their responses, and many reported the module made their appointment more productive (40.7%), helped engage them in the decision (47.7%), broadened their knowledge (48.1%), and improved communication (37.5%). CONCLUSIONS Many patients face decisions that can be anticipated and proactively facilitated through technology. Although use of technology has the potential to make visits more efficient and effective, cultural, workflow, and technical changes are needed before it could be widely disseminated