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Research Radboudumc Technology Centers Data stewardship Digital Research Environment

What is the Digital Research Environment?

The Digital Research Environment (DRE) is a cloud based, globally available research environment where data is stored and organized securely and researchers can quickly generate workspaces to collaborate in and use the applications they love. Globally available and accessible 24/7. read more

What is the Digital Research Environment?

The Digital Research Environment (DRE) is a cloud based, globally available research environment where data is stored and organized securely and where researchers can quickly generate workspaces to collaborate in. Within these workspaces, researchers have preinstalled applications at their disposal, as well as the ability to bring own tooling. Globally available and accesible 24/7.

The DRE facilitates users to collaborate on research projects in a safe, yet flexible compute and storage environment. The architecture of the DRE allows researchers to use a solution within the boundaries of data management rules and regulations. Although General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Good (Clinical) Research Practice still rely on researchers, the DRE offers tools to more easily control and monitor which activities take place within your projects.

Full control

Within the DRE platform each of the projects you are a member of consists of a separate, secure folder, called a 'workspace'. Each workspace is completely secure, so as a researcher you are in full control of your data. You can invite (external) colleagues into your workspace for collaboration, and with the same ease revoke access at any time. Each workspace has its own list of users, which can be managed by its administrators.

Scalable

Each workspace is fully scalable with regard to data quantity and computing power, thereby supporting anything from small to complex multicenter, multisource studies. Moreover, the workspace enables you to perform ‘worry free’ research, meaning that security, ICT infrastructure and compliance with laws and regulations are automatically taken care of when using the DRE.

Various sources  

You can handle many data types from various sources within your workspace. Some examples: data collected with a survey tool or an electronic data capture tool like Castor or RedCap, data from measuring equipment, IKNL data, clinical data from Biobanks and omics data.

Install your own tooling

The DRE consists of a web-interface enabling access to virtual machines. Preinstalled tools consist of programs such as SPSS, R Studio, Matlab, and Office, but you are free  to install your own tools. Because of the security boundary around workspaces, it is possible to offer users the ability to install their own tooling without harming others.

Thanks to the flexibility of the Azure cloud platform, on which the DRE has been built, we can offer a variety of virtualized hardware, including, but not limited, to:
  • Standalone virtual Windows / Linux machines (e.g. 72 cores, 144 Gb RAM);
  • Compute Clusters (HPC);
  • Web-Servers;
  • Several storage options (tables/files/SQL/etc.).
Hereby researchers pay for compute capacity by the second, with no long-term commitment or upfront payments, and can increase or decrease compute capacity via self service.


DRE consists of a web portal, where, for each workspace separately, you can up- and download data, do member management and connect to virtual machines (launched by a simple click on the icon on your own desktop, like a computer in a computer).

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What challenges does DRE solve?

DRE solves many of the current problems researchers face, such as: time, right tools, cost, scalability, effectiveness, security & control. read more

What challenges does DRE solve?

DRE solves many of the current problems researchers face, such as: time, right tools, cost, scalability, effectiveness, security & control.

What's the current problem?


Time
It is time consuming to:
  1. Extract data
  2. Collaborate
  3. Set up environment
  4. Store and manage data
Right tools
It is difficult and expensive to get the fit-for-purpose tools in place.

Cost
  • Difficult to assign cost and control cost
  • Data to 'lost' after every research
Scalability
  • Difficult to get enough compute power
  • Difficult to combine and re-use data for larger datasets
Effectiveness
  • Difficult, near impossible, to combine data sets
  • Difficult to collaborate effectively and share data
  • Difficult to get insight into progress
Security & Compliancy
  • Sharing data over unsecure channels
  • Difficult to comply to laws and regulations
  • Difficult to monitor if your institution is complying to laws

Does the DRE solve all of these challenges?

In fact, yes. You will get cost control (pay for compute capacity by the second), control over security of you data, compliancy, who you collaborate with, and you can monitor progress, output and the data itself.

But way more important: DRE will make your life as a researcher as easy as possible. You will be able to get more research done in less time, need less time to completion and effectively produce more output and recognition.

Preinstalled and own tools

The DRE consists of a web-interface enabling access to virtual machines. Preinstalled tools consist of programs such as SPSS, R Studio, Matlab, and Office, but you are free to install your own tools. read more

Preinstalled and own tools

The DRE consists of a web-interface enabling access to virtual machines. Preinstalled tools consist of programs such as SPSS, R Studio, Matlab, and Office, but you are free  to install your own tools.

Because of the security boundary around workspaces, it is possible to offer users the ability to install their own tooling without harming others.

Thanks to the flexibility of the Azure cloud platform, on which the DRE has been built, we can offer a variety of virtualized hardware, including (but not limited) to:
  • Standalone virtual Windows / Linux machines (e.g. 72 cores, 144 Gb RAM);
  • Compute Clusters (HPC);
  • Web-Servers;
  • Several storage options (tables/files/SQL/etc.).

Key features of DRE

  • Import data sources, organize data, store data securely
  • Use, manage, combine and re-use data
  • Handle multiple types of data: clinical, images, omics, etc.
  • Generate virtual workspaces for researchers
read more

Key features of DRE

  • Import data sources, organize data, store data securely
  • Use, manage, combine and re-use data
  • Handle multiple types of data: clinical, images, omics, etc.
  • Generate virtual workspaces for researchers
  • Use the research tools and applications you want
  • Invite fellow researchers into your workspace to collaborate on data and analysis
  • Access it anywhere, any time, on any device
  • With top security
  • All data is compliant, by design
  • Pseudonymization software
  • High-performance computing
  • For single and multi center studies
  • A catalogue with data for re-use
  • Self-service for researchers

Self service No long-term commitment

DRE allows researchers to pay for compute capacity by the second, with no long-term commitment or upfront payments. You can increase or decrease compute capacity via self service, always in charge of your costs.

More information and workspace requesting

More on DRE and/or request a workspace

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Data Stewardship team

The Data Stewardship technology center provides services in the area of research ICT. We currently provide support and training for the Digital Research Environment (DRE), Castor, Epic for research , Labguru and general research data management.

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Radboudumc Technology Center Data stewardship

This technology center provides knowledge, tooling and infrastructure required for collecting, analyzing, archiving and reusing research data.

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