... With logistical support from Merck and US$5 million in catalyst money from private sources, [Stephen Friend and Merck scientific director Eric Schadt] hope to lay the foundations for a non-profit, open-access research platform called Sage. Its aim: building comprehensive databases that scientists can use to develop more predictive models of disease. ...
[Q:] How will Sage be structured?
Eric Schadt: We want this to be open access, and we don't want it to be perceived as owned or dominated by anybody. ...
[Q:] How do you envision the evolution of this open-platform system?
ES: We view the incubation period as being 3–5 years. ... [A]t the end of 3–5 years, we'd be opening up: a truly open-access public platform. ...
[Q:] Where do you see this effort heading within the next 10 years?
ES: My vision, 5–10 years from now, is of an open-access platform through which research scientists, clinicians and maybe even patients can access petabyte and maybe even exabyte scales of data. Where models of disease are actively being used to inform decision-making. And not just where people take, but where they contribute back. So as scientists query their data sets against this platform, they are actively contributing that data to the platform to make it even better. ...
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
