Allotrope Foundation: Collaborating to Deliver an Innovative Framework for Laboratory Data Based on Open Standards

Analytical laboratories generate large volumes of data from multiple instruments and techniques which must be curated from a diverse array of multiple internal and external sources. Organization and management of these multiple streams of data is further complicated by the fact that much of is stored in one of a number proprietary formats and that the critical contextual metadata needed to document experiments are often incomplete or incorrect due to manual entry, or are distributed among multiple applications, databases or documents.  This severely limits the sharing, integration and re-use of data, constraining the realization of its full value. 

The realization that this data management problem is universal to the industry and not unique to any one company was the catalyst for the formation of Allotrope Foundation–an international consortium of pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and other scientific research-intensive industries focused on improving the acquisition, exchange, and management of data in the heterogeneous hardware and software environment found in the modern analytical laboratory environment.  This effort is fully funded by the members of Allotrope and is rapidly progressing on its common goals to reduce wasted effort, improve data integrity, and allow companies to realize the full value of their analytical data.

This presentation will:

• Discuss the rationale behind the formation of Allotrope Foundation and why the data problems being addressed by Allotrope requires community-driven approach, where people who create and depend on analytical data (the industry) are collaborating with the people who make devices (laboratory instruments) to transform how scientific data is created, used, disseminated and managed  through the creation of innovative products and technologies;
• Demonstrate how Allotrope Foundation members share resources, learn from peers, and utilize collective industry experience in order to meet deadlines, achieve milestones, and ultimately produce an industry-wide solution to a common industry problem;
• Provide an overview on how Allotrope Foundation member companies are beginning to utilize the Framework in their IT infrastructure and workflows in 2015 in collaboration with members of the Allotrope Partner Network;
• Clarify why Allotrope is different from other standards initiatives; and
• Explain how stakeholders in the analytical community can work with Allotrope Foundation through collaboration, expert advice, and active membership and how to contribute to the development and growth of a sustainable framework and vibrant ecosystem of solutions.