Preface by Susan Gregurick

Scientific breakthroughs in life sciences rest on our ability to connect and compare data across different locations, across different species and over different scales. This is true in the US, in Europe and anywhere else.

Though the NIH is in many aspects different from ELIXIR, when it comes to data our goals are the same. When we look at the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science and compare it with the ELIXIR Scientific Programme 2019-23, we find many similar themes and the same commitment to open data and open science. We both want to maximise the value of life science data and enable our researchers to freely access and share their data, without compromising security and privacy of the data donors.

I collaborated with my European colleagues early in ELIXIR development more than 10 year ago and have been following the development of ELIXIR since. In recent years there have been many more projects on which we work together. To name a few, I mention the collaboration on the compact identifiers resolution service, or FAIRshake, a software to assess the FAIRness of bioinformatics tools and analyses.

In 2019, we also started working on our Authorisation and Authentication service, the Researcher Auth Service (RAS), to streamline access to our open data resources. The experience of ELIXIR experts from developing and operating the ELIXIR AAI helped us to establish the necessary protocols early on in the development. Because both NIH and ELIXIR use the same open standards, the RAS and the ELIXIR AAI services will be compatible, which will further facilitate exchange of ideas and scientific collaboration between ELIXIR and NIH.

I was honoured to be invited to ELIXIR’s 5th Anniversary in December 2018. Seeing the energy and commitment of everyone in ELIXIR, I am convinced that its Scientific Programme for the next five years will be a great leap forward. I wish my ELIXIR colleagues every success and hope that our collaboration will continue to thrive.

NIH Associate Director for Data Science and Director of the NIH Office of Data Science Strategy