Future opportunities and trends for e-infrastructures and life sciences: Going beyond the grid to enable life science data analysis

With the increasingly rapid growth of data in life sciences we are witnessing a major transition in the way research is conducted, from hypothesis-driven studies to data-driven simulations of whole systems. Such approaches necessitate the use of large-scale computational resources and e-infrastructures, such as the European Grid Infrastructure (EGI). EGI, one of key the enablers of the digital European Research Area, is a federation of resource providers set up to deliver sustainable, integrated and secure computing services to European researchers and their international partners. Here we aim to provide the state of the art of Grid/Cloud computing in EU research as viewed from within the field of life sciences, focusing on key infrastructures and projects within the life sciences community. Rather than focusing purely on the technical aspects underlying the currently provided solutions, we outline the design aspects and key characteristics that can be identified across major research approaches. Overall, we aim to provide significant insights into the road ahead by establishing ever-strengthening connections between EGI as a whole and the life sciences community

Registered access: authorizing data access

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) proposes a data access policy model-"registered access"-to increase and improve access to data requiring an agreement to basic terms and conditions, such as the use of DNA sequence and health data in research. A registered access policy would enable a range of categories of users to gain access, starting with researchers and clinical care professionals. It would also facilitate general use and reuse of data but within the bounds of consent restrictions and other ethical obligations. In piloting registered access with the Scientific Demonstration data sharing projects of GA4GH, we provide additional ethics, policy and technical guidance to facilitate the implementation of this access model in an international setting

Registered access: authorizing data access.

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) proposes a data access policy model-"registered access"-to increase and improve access to data requiring an agreement to basic terms and conditions, such as the use of DNA sequence and health data in research. A registered access policy would enable a range of categories of users to gain access, starting with researchers and clinical care professionals. It would also facilitate general use and reuse of data but within the bounds of consent restrictions and other ethical obligations. In piloting registered access with the Scientific Demonstration data sharing projects of GA4GH, we provide additional ethics, policy and technical guidance to facilitate the implementation of this access model in an international setting

Registered access: authorizing data access

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) proposes a data access policy model-"registered access"-to increase and improve access to data requiring an agreement to basic terms and conditions, such as the use of DNA sequence and health data in research. A registered access policy would enable a range of categories of users to gain access, starting with researchers and clinical care professionals. It would also facilitate general use and reuse of data but within the bounds of consent restrictions and other ethical obligations. In piloting registered access with the Scientific Demonstration data sharing projects of GA4GH, we provide additional ethics, policy and technical guidance to facilitate the implementation of this access model in an international setting.SOMD is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (EP1-120608; EP1-120609; CEE-151618), Genome Quebec, Genome Canada, the Government of Canada, the Ministère de l’Économie, Innovation et Exportation du Québec (Can-SHARE grant 141210), and the Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine. ML, IL, JT, and TN are supported by the ELIXIR, the research infrastructure for life-science data, and the H2020 ELIXIR-EXCELERATE grant 676559. IL and GK are supported by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory; MS by Research Foundation Flanders (FWO); MH by NIH/NHGRI 5U41HG002371-15; SW by NIH/NHGRI R00HG008175; S Beck by the National Institute for Health Research UCLH Biomedical Research Centre (BRC369/CN/SB/101310); S Brenner by NIH/NHGRI U41 HG007346; BMK by the Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine; and PF by WT201535/Z/16/Z and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory