Figures
Fig. 1. Data-sharing models. To avoid multiple pairwise agreements among institutions, a broker for data can be created. Data contributors specify their requirements for data access by users and sign a contributor data use agreement (DUA). Completing a quality assurance (QA) process is required for data, tool, and VM contributions. Data users also sign a DUA that complies with the requirements of the contributor, so that contributors do not have to negotiate every data-sharing engagement with different institutions. Three models of sharing are displayed. Model 1 is the traditional model, in which users download data for use in their local computers. In model 2, the remote desktop model, users connect to a center but access and analyze data within the center using existing, or their own, algorithms. Model 3 involves virtualization and distributed computation, in which users import software environments (virtual machines, or VMs) to analyze their data using their local computational infrastructures.
CREDIT: Y. HAMMOND/SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
