Managing large open data platforms - developing cutting edge technology solutions through collaboration

Bioinformatics is the science of collecting and analysing complex biological data such as genetic codes. The European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) is one of the six sites of The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), an intergovernmental organisation with 20 member states. With over 40 open access data resources and cutting edge data analysis tools, EBI provides data, tools and training to advances scientific discovery that enable solutions for global challenges such as infectious diseases, food insecurity and loss of biodiversity. Running and managing this collection of open resources requires significant infrastructure investment, global collaboration with other infrastructure and industry partners, and investment to remain cutting edge and take advantage of technological advances such as AI. This talk will cover three case studies to demonstrate 1) global collaboration through the European Nucleotide Archive, member of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration; 2) industry collaboration through AlphaFold, the protein structure database developed in collaboration with Google DeepMind and 3) how to meet user expectations in a resource constrained environment through Europe PMC’s product management strategy.