While data has the power to transform our business practices, research efforts and even our everyday lives, that potential is only met when data is turned into knowledge. In keeping with that spirit, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced its intention to launch an electronic “Commons” as both a shared computing resource and a repository for biomedical data and informatics tools.
According to NIH, there is a bottleneck developing within the biomedical research community. The current standard of dispersing biomedical and health sciences research into the community involves publishing results in journals, sharing papers at conferences and directly sharing articles within one’s own professional network.
Instead, NIH claims that biomedical researchers need a new mechanism that is scalable, straightforward to use and could take advantage of emergent cloud and high-performance computing resources.
The proposed Commons aims to meet these needs through a collectively controlled cloud infrastructure that enables the data to be shared anywhere in the community. When tasked with granting access to a proposed collaborator, the API-based approach culls a unified set from across multiple data sources. The option to use high-performance computing within the Commons promises to unlock additional research opportunities.
In support of a sustainable business model, NIH has called for a unique implementation plan for the Commons emphasizing ease of use and connectivity. Its sources-sought notice lays out its intent to create a “federation of conformant clouds [comprised of] public providers, companies that utilize public providers, or high-performance computing centers at academic institutions or national laboratories.”
From there, NIH plans to distribute credits to the Commons throughout the biomedical community by means of a third-party reseller. These credits can then be redeemed using the individual’s cloud resource provider of their choice for storage and computing. NIH reports that grants could also pay for additional credits.
“This model matches supply to demand and provides resources where needed (with individual investigators) and provides for a robust market where vendors compete to provide the best services to the research community at the lowest possible price,” says NIH in the notice.
NIH reports that it’s still looking for a third-party reseller to manage the Commons’ credit and payment systems, as well as organizations that can provide the requisite cloud services.
Responses are due on January 19, 2015.