Now that 2017 resolutions have been made (and, perhaps, already broken), I’m going to go on record with the prediction that 2017 is going to be the year of the Smart Lab. From industrial and commercial sectors, to the smart home, smart technologies have made major inroads in every category except one -- scientific research.
Transportation infrastructure is improving with delivery vehicles that have data-gathering technologies for route optimization and fuel efficiency. Industrial operations are leveraging sensor-based technologies to improve operations and production yields. In the home, smart lights, like BeON, can be used for security and more, while personal assistants like Alexa are quietly supporting our lives – when not arguing with each other. In all of these cases, AI and sensors are being used to augment our abilities and lessen the mundane tasks we have to do.
But what about the research environment? Scientific research forms the foundation of innovation and progress, and advancements in Smart Lab technology are critical to accelerating the pace of scientific discovery. As anyone who has worked in a lab knows all too well, there are a LOT of mundane and repetitive tasks that we need to do in research. The question for scientists and researchers is what we can learn from how “smart things” are being used in other industries and apply them to the lab?
Laboratory Information Systems (LIMS) systems and Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs) are being used, but typically provide basic data repositories rather than making the data useful. The very people who crave and use massive amounts of data the most have not benefitted from the ‘smart’ movement that effortlessly gathers meaningful data AND presents it in accessible and actionable ways. That is finally changing, and 2017 is the year. Here’s why:
At the end of the day, smart technologies are about providing new insights, new capabilities, and streamlining processes. What area could reap the benefits more than laboratories -- across all sectors and industries -- from academic to pharma, industrial to clinical and beyond. Here’s to making the prediction a reality.