Union minister Jitendra Singh on Friday released a set of guidelines in a bid to bring about a well-defined framework and guiding principle to help in sharing of biological information and data generated by research groups across the nation.
“The Biotech-PRIDE (Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange) Guidelines will facilitate this and enable exchange of information to promote research and innovation in different research groups across the country,” a statement said. The Union minister also launched the website of the Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC).
The aim behind the guidelines is to provide a framework for sharing and exchanging biological knowledge, information and data. “It will be applicable to high-throughput, high-volume data generated by research groups across the country. These guidelines do not deal with generation of biological data but are a mechanism to share and exchange information and knowledge generated according to existing laws, rules, regulations and norms of the country,” the statement said.
The new framework will also ensure in avoiding duplication and ensuring better decision-making and equity of access. It further said that the guidelines will act as a mechanism for sharing data publicly and within a reasonable period of time after data-generation ensuring maximum utilization of the data.
Singh said that the guidelines will be implemented with the help of the IBDC at the Regional Centre for Biotechnology supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). Later, the existing datasets and data centres will be bridged to this IBDC which will be called bio-grid.
{{/usCountry}}Singh said that the guidelines will be implemented with the help of the IBDC at the Regional Centre for Biotechnology supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). Later, the existing datasets and data centres will be bridged to this IBDC which will be called bio-grid.
{{/usCountry}}The bio-grid will be the national repository of biological knowledge, information and data. It will also be responsible for enabling exchange of data, developing measures for safety, standards and quality for datasets and establishing detailed modalities for accessing data, Jitendra Singh said.
Singh said that being a nation with a population of over 135 crore and due to India’s heterogenous nature it was necessary to have its own exclusive database for Indian research and solutions.