BY-COVID D8.5 Policy Brief II: Research data infrastructure for sustainable global pandemic preparedness

This second Policy Brief from the BY-COVID project supplements the first, on ‘Open data to support pandemic preparedness’, by addressing the role of Research Infrastructures in the global pandemic preparedness landscape.

The BY-COVID project has built data partnerships to support pathogen research and pandemic response. The project brought together researchers, infrastructure and database providers and policymakers, initially around COVID-19 resources but gradually developing a vision for a general capability extensible to all pathogens.

Core to the project have been the ten participating European Research Infrastructures. They brought established services to build on, expertise to develop new solutions and have the potential to provide long-term hosts for knowledge and new services.

Through the project and consultation with our partners we have developed a picture of what is required in a future pandemic response architecture. The network of international reference and deposition databases are at the heart to support data sharing. Portals and analysis environments developed to support the COVID-19 response can be developed for all pathogens in partnership with infrastructure providers. Development of data standards, reusable analytic tools and communities of practice can be supported by the Research Infrastructures.

Here, we offer recommendations for policymakers and other stakeholders: that consolidated resources for pathogen data are developed at the international and national levels; that pathogen researchers partner with the e-Infrastructures to ensure technologies are aligned and capacity for outbreak response is available; and that the Research Infrastructures maintain pathogens communities of practice in preparation for a future pandemic.