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Lifecycle management software developer Accelrys announced the launch of ScienceCloud, a software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based information management and collaboration workspace.
ScienceCloud provides applications to upload, process, store, search and analyze structured and unstructured scientific records critical for drug discovery projects including biology, chemistry, analytical, safety and pharmacokinetics data.
The platform is designed to help advance collaborative drug discovery with a new generation of integrated applications built on a scalable, cloud-based scientific platform, removing software management and hardware maintenance from the process.
“With externalized R&D collaboration on the rise in the life sciences, organizations are turning to the cloud as a secure, scalable, elastic environment for effectively connecting virtual teams and sharing data, information and knowledge,” Alan S. Louie, research director for IT research firm IDC’s health insights division. “Improved business agility, reduced TCO and anywhere-anytime information access make the cloud an excellent venue for rolling out a successful collaboration strategy.”
ScienceCloud enhances the virtual workspace with mobile applications and tools, allowing project teams to leverage social communication for building and sharing project information.
In addition, the platform provides project-centered IP storage in a secure information warehouse and enforces sponsor business rules on results posted by network partners.
Accelrys Pipeline Pilot, a scientific workflow-authoring application, facilitates the creation and management of scientific services, implements standard business rules and enables integration between ScienceCloud and on-premises systems, allowing data to flow from one environment to the other.
The ScienceCloud Exchange is an open portal where scientists can publish and share Accelrys Pipeline Pilot protocols, such as reports created from ScienceCloud data, allowing for broader dissemination of research tools within the ScienceCloud community.
“Today a significant amount of discovery work is done through partner alliances,” Matt Hahn, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Accelrys, said in a statement. “Because of this new business model, life science partner networks need better ways to connect and collaborate than email, e-rooms and repurposed legacy systems. ScienceCloud is a flexible and robust workspace where virtual project teams can securely share the data and apps they need to drive successful outcomes in a fast-changing global and mobile research landscape.”
Accelrys Notebook, a flexible, multi-disciplinary electronic lab notebook offers sponsor organizations and network partners the ability to capture and share experimental methods.
An associated Accelrys Pipeline Pilot Mobile Collection allows developers to build scientific protocols which can be deployed to mobile devices, leveraging mobile capabilities such as sound and image capture, location services and speech-to-text.