On the development of an open and collaborative bioinformatics research environment

This paper reports on the development of a self-sustaining and community-responsive platform that streamlines the wealth of available open Bioinformatics resources to accelerate multi-disciplinary collaboration and boost innovation in post-genomics biomedical research. Our approach adopts the principles of reproducible, reusable and remixable computer-aided research, and builds on top of state-of-the-art concepts and converging technologies for simple, fast and scalable specification and execution of scientific workflows. The proposed platform enables innovative networking and community building among researchers, facilitates knowledge sharing and co-creation, assures better-informed collaboration, and expedites gaining of insights. Paying particular attention to the issues of data and research provenance and attribution, the platform integrates a set of innovative services for the management of research resources and competences. The overall approach ensures the interoperability of the abovementioned resources and services from a technical, conceptual and user interface point of view.