Bio-IT World | Data commons are rapidly emerging in biomedical research, driven largely by a growing mandate to share data toward accelerating discoveries. The inaugural Bio-IT World West, which took place last week in San Francisco, featured numerous sessions and panels on the challenges and future directions of these digital common spaces.

Bio-IT World News Brief | MIT Professional Education recently announced the launch of two new professional certificate programs, in addition to the existing three professional certificate programs, and seven additional courses for the summer of 2019. The expanded offerings are designed to meet the market demand for talent with specialized technical and engineering leadership skills.

Bio-IT World | Using cloud-based data management and data transfer systems can affect the overall productivity of a study, and the results speak for themselves: reduction in cost and the increased ability for multiple labs to work together toward figuring out problems.

Bio-IT World | With 17 tracks, 13 workshops, and countless networking opportunities, the Bio-IT World Conference & Expo 2019 promises to be the most informative event yet.

Bio-IT World | Clinical research is a complex process involving various actors where trust, data sharing, security, and visibility need to be established from clinical trial participants, physicians, researchers, service providers, sponsors, and regulators. This is where blockchain comes in.

Bio-IT World Bioinformatics.org announced the finalists this week in the 2019 Benjamin Franklin Award for Open Access in the Life Sciences. Voting is open until Friday, March 15. Finalists include Richard Durbin, Eugene Koonin, Aaron Quinlan, and G.P.S. Raghava.