Table 1 User requirements for a data exchange and integration system
From: Owner controlled data exchange in nutrigenomic collaborations: the NuGO information network
Data integrity | The system needs to make sure that is difficult to alter data accidentally or maliciously. If data items are changed, then a record of the changes needs to be made (data provenance, security) |
Data provenance | The system needs to make sure that the origin of the data is know and that any subsequent modifications are recorded (data integrity) |
Costs | Limited resources prohibit cost intensive solutions, the (re)use and adoption of existing of existing standard procedures is favored (open standards) |
Open standards | Open, public standards for data processing (annotations, reporting) and for information technology, such as computing protocols and software tools, need to be employed. This eases data exchange through common mechanisms and structures and prevents dependencies on proprietary solutions and licensing costs (see costs) |
Flexibility | The system needs to be able to cope with changing projects and user requirements |
Autonomy | The autonomy of the individual researcher needs to be preserved by allowing individual, local solutions for data handling and management. It should give the researcher maximal control over what data and information are made available (IPR) |
Intellectual property rights/privacy | Intellectual property rights (IPR) of the individual researcher need to be protected within the scope of the collaborative agreement. The privacy of sensitive data needs to be preserved (security) |
Security | The system needs to provide procedures to flexibly control access to data, preventing unauthorized access, and record its use (see IPR) |
User interface | Acceptance by scientists is based on the ease of use and, therefore, the design and structure of the user interface |