What to Look for in an Informatics Platform for Life Sciences R&D
Published on 11 Jul 2021
Agriculture, biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, behavioral sciences, are some of the branches of modern life sciences. R&D in these fields is crucial to help humanity solve the challenges we face today. Governments around the world are prioritizing life science R&D. For example in In 2020, the UK Government spent $3 billion on heath research and development[1]. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a lot of disruption to R&D in the health and pharma fields. Co-ordinating with colleagues who were working remotely and reduced lab capacity were some of the significant challenges that researchers had to face. Having the right tools and systems in place can help R&D organizations deal with such disruptions more effectively. As we settle into a new normal, organizations need to consider what solutions can best support data management for their R&D efforts.
When it comes to data management for R&D for modern life sciences, molecular biology tools, electronic lab notebooks, systems for registration, sample, request, and workflow management are essential. Many R&D organization have adopted individual systems to address these needs independent of one another. However, the industry is recognizing the need for a unified approach. Integrating data systems is a top priority for many IT departments. Many in such R&D organizations are considering informatics platforms as a solution.
See also: Unlock the Value of Data in the Gaming Industry
What are informatics platforms?
The science of processing data for storage and retrieval is referred to as informatics. A digital platform is the environment in which a particular software is executed. An informatics platform is a digital solution that allows for the processing of data. These solutions are capable of processing large amounts of data and have machine-learning (ML) capabilities. Often statistical models can be added to allow for faster processing. Informatics platforms offer a wide range of capabilities that would otherwise require separate software solutions. All of these capabilities can be accessed from a single interface. The choice of platform will have significant consequences for an organization's R&D as well as IT. It influences how productive research scientists are, what R&D decisions an organization makes, and the organization's ability to successfully bring products to market. The right platform will allow IT teams to provide proper support to R&D and ensure long term relevance of the organization's infrastructure.
5 Things to look for in an informatics platform
When evaluating an informatics platform there are 5 critical capabilities that organizations should look for. Download this white paper by Benchling to learn more about these capabilities:
- Purpose-built for modern life sciences
- Unified data infrastructure
- Codeless configuration
- Open integration
- Easy extensibility
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Source:
1. Feb. 2021, "Life Science Competitiveness Indicators 2020", Office for Life Sciences, [available online] available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/977265/Life_Science_Competitiveness_Indicators_2020_report.pdf [accessed Jul 2021]
