Exemplar ProjectsVPH NoE Exemplar Projects and the VPH ToolKit - 8. USFD: The NoE, Infrastructure and the Challenge of Call6
8. USFD: The NoE, Infrastructure and the Challenge of Call6
Coordinator: John Fenner, University of Sheffield (UK)
Partners: University College London, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Spain)
The sustainability of the VPH vision beyond the lifespan of the NoE clearly will depend on the establishment of a robust data infrastructure and digital repository. While it may be argued that examples of such an infrastructure exist in other fields (e.g. high energy physics), the special problems faced in biomedicine, not only technical but also ethical and legal, represent a daunting challenge. The EC recognises this, and has consequently incorporated it as a focus of FP7 Call 6, announced last spring.
Given the role of the VPH NoE to orchestrate the interactions and cooperation among the various VPH-Initiative projects, it was logical to select the Sheffield proposal as an Exemplar Project, to give the NoE a voice in important infrastructure decisions.
The stated objective of this EP is the "development of infrastructure for the NoE, based on consultation with the VPH Initiative [VPH-I], ultimately leading to implementation of a federated Distributed File System (DFS) and a pilot demonstrator." The project will follow a three-fold plan of action to:
- Characterise candidate technologies of the infrastructure landscape, complemented by an infrastructure platform appropriate to the NoE, demonstrated through interaction with a VPH-I project;
- Characterise the architectures, infrastructure needs and workflow tools of the VPH-I and engage with wider infrastructure interests beyond the VPH-I; and
- Engage in discussion with infrastructure protagonists to deliver a coherent and authoritative message that can influence strategies for VPH infrastructure implementation under Call 6.
The team at Sheffield has already made progress towards these goals, demonstrated in a report submitted a little over one month after hiring their EP postdoc. The requirements of an adequate Data Hosting Environment (DHE) have been proposed, they are conducting an extensive survey of the landscape, and they have identified key technologies capable of supporting these requirements and their suitability, strengths and weaknesses. Since no single solution may serve the NoE, they are also undertaking a performance benchmark of the systems under consideration, with the results included in an infrastructure report.