Ensuring sustainability of software tools and services by cooperation with a research infrastructure

Per Med. 2016 Jan;13(1):43-55. doi: 10.2217/pme.15.43. Epub 2016 Jan 8.

Abstract

Sustainability of project output and especially of the maintenance and further development of software is of growing concern for the research community. In the personalized medicine project p-medicine solutions that address this sustainability problem were developed and discussed in a workshop. They involve a number of interrelated and mutually supportive measures including the creation of a service center, building modular software, using common data standards, mutual service exchange with a research infrastructure, Open Source and fee-based software provision, joint promotion and deployment of tools in a regulated, clinical trial situation. These ideas join a nascent literature seeking to understand how project output can be put into a sustainable environment and to suggest solutions that may be useful for academic projects in general.

Keywords: ECRIN; certification; clinical trials; good clinical practice; personalized medicine; research infrastructure; services; software; sustainability.