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The introduction of technology to improve an ingrained activity follows a well-worn path. Firstly the new technology is used in the same way as the legacy solution. Then as adoption grows and the fear of the new is overcome, the technology actually begins to change the old way of doing things into something fundamentally more effective. So it has been with ELNs. In the mid-1990s, as the desktop replaced the terminal, storing and sharing digital information became common behavior and the concept of a digital version of a paper notebook was discussed as a natural application. However the cradle of evolution for the ELN was in pharmaceutical medicinal chemistry where—it was believed at the time—all the IP value of the R&D effort was born. The establishment of a timestamp for a new chemical structure was deemed to be the core requirement of IP in the days when ‘first-to-invent’ remained the governing principal of pharma IP. Of course, as with all evolutions there were other progenitors, such as General Mills in the food and beverage industry, which had great foresight in recognizing the value of sharing broader R&D information. But the core ELN proposition was ‘fast-to-PDF’ protection of chemistry. This led to the early evolution of ELNs from desktop chemistry systems—vestiges of which can still be seen in the legacy chemistry systems of today. However ELNs used this way were not being transformational, simply as Michael Elliott, CEO of Atrium Consulting LLC puts it they were, “Replacing paper with glass.”

The Data Chain Science is a multidisciplinary process where the aggregation of disparate information is necessary before a hypothesis can be generated, where data is captured, analyzed, interpreted, and shared. If this chain is broken then IP is lost. Also absent is the potential for the holy grail of modern R&D—innovation: the application of new ideas in practice. IP therefore no longer rests (solely) with chemical structures, particularly in pharmaceuticals. It is all about the application of ideas supported by multidisciplinary science.

If a scientist’s ELN is to offer anything more than replacing the drudge of writing something up with the labor of typing it up instead, then it must actively enable each of these elements of the process and be natively adaptable across multiple disciplines and centers. It should offer the added bonuses of utilizing the diverse IT platforms that today’s scientists use: desktop, web, and mobile.

Hypothesis generation is all about data aggregation. The best hypotheses are generated by a combination of disparate, multidisciplinary facts. The ELN therefore must enable this. How? We are used to IT systems doing this every day, and for anyone who has used the Flipboard app, the ability to access and use disparate data is now a given. So it is with the ELN. It must enable scientists to access internal and external content in real-time while they build and secure their ideas, just-in-time and at the point of use. Recent work with Elsevier and

Thomson Reuters has seen the companies using IDBS’ ELN(E-WorkBook), enabling external content to be accessed alongside internal information inside the notebook. This is a sign that the modern ELN is leveraging today’s IT advancements to enable improved decision-making, rather than acting as just a record-keeper.

Easing the Labor of Science Calculation and interpretation are part of the labor of science and here modern ELNs must help by capturing and computing data. They must save time, ensure consistency and enable the sharing of best practice methods across organizations. Brian Brooks, former director of research data management at GlaxoSmithKline, says, “the ELN is at the center of a scientist’s work. It’s where they record their daily work. The ELN is a natural integrator in the implementation of research informatics.”

The ability to encapsulate and communicate best practice, to define and share optimized workflows is a critical trend in ELN. If this interaction of best practice can’t be done then the ELN is just another silo—like the notebook, locking information in a virtual cupboard. By being able to access and use approved workflows the ELN becomes a process optimizer and in some more regulated environments a Laboratory Execution System. The use of ELNs in process-centric areas is growing and provides rapid, measureable ROI benefits.

Securing and sharing Data Scientists work in networks-of-networks. Everyone wishes to work with their data until they are confident of its quality and then they release it to feed innovation in others—or to receive the plaudits due.

ELN’S: THE BEATING HEART OF A SCIENTIST’S WORLD - MULTI-INDUSTRY

As ELNs deliver more benefits to researchers, the cost of changing working practice is outweighed by access to high quality, high context collaboration.

ELN’sThe Beating Heart of a Scientist’s World

by Chris Molloy

Recently someone asked my colleague, “What can you do with a paper notebook that you can’t do with an Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN)?” The answer was quick and to the

point: “Put out a lab fire or lose it in a locked cupboard”. The evolution of ELNs from modified print-drivers through ‘fast-to-PDF’ desktop solutions to functionally rich enterprise data-centric systems has been rapid. It has, though, followed a very common path where new technology replaces century old practices.

The lab notebook has always been the center of a researcher’s world: master and slave; a source of inspiration and drudge in the same measure.

The ELN likewise has both pros and cons. However as the best-in-breed ELNs harness the power of the digital age to deliver more benefits to researchers, the cost of changing working practice is heavily outweighed by instant access to a wealth of high quality, high context collaboration.

“The ability to encapsulate and communicate best practice, to define and share optimized workflows is a

critical trend in ELN....”

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The modern ELN must enable this between groups, across institutions and importantly today, across multi-company and multidiscipline collaborations. The ELN must therefore be a hosted data management platform with strong security provisions and with the ability to aggregate data in real time. The leading enterprise ELN firms have hosted systems that enable multi-party collaborations with the key differentiation being in the quality of security, search ability, and ability to share workflows across collaborators.

Realizing that ELNs are active data systems is really the trigger for the technology to enable scientists, rather than providing them with a replacement for their emergency lab fire-extinguisher. If ELNs can capture, compute, store, and share data in real time then the technology is adding real value.

So what about the IP? There is still a very strong link between ELN and IP. However two things have changed that alters perception. Firstly, the America Invents Act (2011) replaces ‘first-to-invent’ with ‘first-to-file’. This means that timestamps lose their power in favor of those who are fastest to aggregate and integrate their data into a submission. Secondly it is now clear that ELNs should enable the science first, with background capture and audit of IP as a given.

ELNs continue to evolve beneath the covers and this has seen the implementation of Good Laboratory, Manufacturing, or Clinical Practice (GxP), process development and even clinical ELNs. However a critical step is their ability to be easily used by scientists. Paper notebooks do have the benefit of portability and with the diversity of IT platforms now in use by researchers the electronic notebook must be able to be accessed from wherever they are. This evolution too is now being seen with recent launches of enterprise ELNs, offering a choice of desktop, web and tablet interfaces, enabling scientists to enter, find, review and sign off the same information from a platform they—not their vendor—chooses.

Modern ELN technology is no longer a fast-to-PDF archive, nor is it an application tacked onto other applications. They are specialist data systems at the beating heart of a scientist’s world and a critical support for today’s network-of-networks. As the early ELNs become dark PDF archives and siloed ELNs are being replaced by multi-functional systems, data-centric ELNs are changing how science is done, providing this, and the upcoming ‘digital native’ generations of scientists with 21st century approaches to the challenges ahead. Reprinted with permission; Bioscience Technology, May 2012 issue

Chris Molloy is the VP Corporate Development & Marketing at IDBS. He has extensive experience in multinational pharmaceutical, biotech and R&D software sectors. He can be reached via Twitter @molloycr.

Here’s a link to the online version: http://www.biosciencetechnology.com/Articles/2012/05/ELNs--The-Beating-Heart-of-a-Scientist%E2%80%99s-World/

MULTI-INDUSTRY - ELN’S: THE BEATING HEART OF A SCIENTIST’S WORLD

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