Canadian Bioinformatics and Computational Biology – Consultation on Proposed Strategic Framework
August 19, 2015 – Canada now stands at the edge of an information and communications revolution of transformative social, economic and cultural impact.
In 2014, Canada's research funding agencies, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), in collaboration with Genome Canada (GC), sought feedback from the community on a proposed realignment of agency funding policies regarding management of data. The Capitalizing on Big Data: Toward a Policy Framework for Advancing Digital Scholarship in Canada consultation represented the first phase of a collective effort among Canadian research funders designed to encourage the collection and sharing of data through enhanced and coordinated data policies.
Call for Consultation on Strategic Framework for Canadian Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (B/CB)
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (B/CB) is specifically recognized as a shared priority among Canada's research funders, as it will be the key to extracting meaning from increasingly complex large data sets. Under the leadership of GC and CIHR, research funders, infrastructure providers, researchers and other stakeholders have been working closely together to: (1) obtain a clear picture of the B/CB landscape in Canada and abroad; and (2) reach consensus on Canada's strengths, achievements and needs in B/CB.
Over the past 18 months, a B/CB Advisory Committee assembled by CIHR and GC has been working closely with research funders to develop a strategic framework that will build fully integrated Canadian B/CB capacity across the life sciences. The proposed B/CB framework represents an effort to co-develop a national approach to harness the potential of big data.
Consultation on Developing a Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) Strategy for Canada
The B/CB Advisory Committee is currently soliciting feedback from the B/CB community, users and receptors through the Bioinformatics web portal. We encourage everyone interested in the future of B/CB in Canada to review the strategic framework and provide feedback through the consultation website above by Friday, September 25, 2015.
Related Initiatives
Consultation on Draft Statement of Principles on Digital Data Management
The agencies have developed a draft Statement of Principles on Digital Data Management, which outlines the agencies' overarching expectations with regard to digital research data management. The agencies invite institutions, associations, organizations and individuals to comment on the draft Statement, its comprehensiveness and balance, as well as its usefulness in advancing data stewardship in general and data management practices in particular.
Consultation on Developing a Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) Strategy for Canada
Industry Canada has recently launched a consultation on Developing a Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) Strategy for Canada. The DRI strategy will include new policies on research data management and storage, and a coordinated long-term approach for the provision of high speed networking, high performance computing and software tools.