Metadata is a crucial aspect of implementing FAIR data principles and practices. Without metadata, you have no view of what is going on with your unstructured data, context as to what the data is or what it is for.

Digitalisation is the reality for each of us in our private life. In laboratories, it’s still a dream. But why are we dreaming of digitalisation and of connectivity between your instruments and your leading systems when these things are actually at our fingertips? The reason might be obvious: when the right tools to connect all software silos are missing, we can’t be digitalised in reality.

In this Commentary article, we explore some of the applications of synthetic data generation in the context of healthcare and treatment. Synthetic data can overcome problems surrounding privacy and enable the sharing of important medical information without compromising the privacy of patients.

Data digitisation has led to a market shift in operability, as well as a strong emphasis on trust and a need for broad standardisation. Zisis Kozlakidis, Head of Laboratory Services and Biobanking at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, sat down with us to discuss current and future trends in digital data governance for healthcare, as well as the need for a coordinated data strategy going forward.

Our April 2022 discussion group focused on digital therapeutics. Digital therapeutics are software-based products for the prevention, management and treatment of health conditions.

Data is one of the most important assets for a company but multi-omics data analysis is a challenging field.

Digital health is often seen as the 'next big thing' but there are challenges ahead. This month, our discussion group focused on fragmentation, data flow, protection and regulatory approval.

This Commentary article revisits the development and implementation of mobile health data, exploring how initiatives such as the NHS track and trace system helped to mitigate the worst of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here, we consider the applications of mHealth data for present and future pandemic situations.

Digital biomarkers are rapidly being adopted to provide quality insights into patient health. David Nobbs, Biomarker Disease Area Lead at Roche and Valentin, Data Analytics Leader at GSK share how their companies are using digital biomarkers.

This Commentary piece looks at the means by which the global approval process for new medicines can be sped up through the controlled use of FAIR data. Key areas of focus include the sharing of healthcare data to bring the patient voice within the clinical setting.