Published November 27, 2023 | Version v1
Preprint Open

Beyond COVID - how the BY-COVID project is increasing European pandemic preparedness

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon ELIXIR
  • 2. ROR icon European Research Infrastructure on Highly Pathogenic Agents
  • 3. ROR icon Sciensano (Belgium)
  • 4. ROR icon Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias de la Salud
  • 5. ROR icon University of Nottingham
  • 6. ROR icon SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
  • 7. ROR icon University of Oxford
  • 8. ROR icon University of Manchester
  • 9. ROR icon Technical University of Denmark
  • 10. ROR icon University of Milan
  • 11. ROR icon Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure Consortium
  • 12. ROR icon European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network
  • 13. ROR icon National Research Council
  • 14. ROR icon Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology
  • 15. ROR icon European Bioinformatics Institute
  • 16. ROR icon Euro-BioImaging ERIC
  • 17. ROR icon Barcelona Supercomputing Center
  • 18. ROR icon Lygature
  • 19. ROR icon Amsterdam UMC Location VUmc
  • 20. ROR icon Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
  • 21. ROR icon Uppsala University
  • 22. ROR icon Finnish Social Science Data Archive
  • 23. ROR icon Center for Advanced Studies Research and Development in Sardinia
  • 24. ROR icon VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology
  • 25. ROR icon Data Archiving and Networked Services
  • 26. ROR icon Spanish National Research Council
  • 27. ROR icon Centre for Genomic Regulation
  • 28. ROR icon Institute of Evolutionary Biology
  • 29. ROR icon University of Luxembourg
  • 30. National Institute for Infectious Diseases (IRCCS)
  • 31. ROR icon University of Milano-Bicocca
  • 32. ROR icon Ospedale Policlinico San Martino
  • 33. ROR icon Infrafrontier

Description

Informed and rapid decision-making during public health emergencies is contingent on the availability of accurate, interoperable and timely data on a global scale. Effective collection, analysis, reporting and transparent sharing of data and analytical workflows with and between clinicians, researchers and policymakers is therefore vital. Further, the ability to integrate diverse data sets from multiple disciplines is paramount in assisting decision makers in both in surveillance and crisis situations. 

It is well established that knowledge and data that are not stored in an organised manner become inaccessible and impossible to reuse (Vines et al., 2014). Effective data sharing is key in the response to  future pandemics by shaping priorities for research, preparedness plans and effective policymaking. As nations emerge from the acute phase of the COVID-19 outbreak, it is now time to reflect on the regional, national and international challenges faced in data sharing and consolidate  the lessons learnt and innovative solutions into Europe's future toolkit for pandemic preparedness. 

BY-COVID is a Horizon Europe-funded project bringing together a consortium covering clinical, public health, social and bio-molecular sciences. It aims to address some of the key challenges in data-driven decision-making, both in the support of the continuing response to COVID-19 and in the preparedness for future infectious disease outbreaks. Extending beyond infectious diseases, many of the project outcomes and resources can be reapplied in other contexts, for example, food security and the biodiversity crisis. This is enabled by using the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) as a basis for data and knowledge preservation, analysis and reporting methods (Wilkinson et al., 2016). 

As we pass the midpoint of  the project, we are taking stock and reporting on the progress, value and impact for future outbreak control, disease surveillance and pathogen data sharing (for example, in curation, sequence analysis, genotyping, phenotyping), as well as the impact of collaborations across scientific disciplines.

Files

BY-COVID white paper .pdf

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Additional details

Funding

BY-COVID – Beyond COVID 101046203
European Commission

Dates

Submitted
2023-11-27