Become a Data Citizen

“Digital transformation is not just about buying or upgrading technology, but also about creating a digital mindset”.

Strategic workforce planning (SWP) is therefore required to unleash organisational potential. The SWP concept presented by Andreas Steinle from Roche showed how important it is to align HR strategies and organisational goals and prepare for the future by adapting the work culture, adapting to change, and remaining attractive to existing and new talent.

This is the moment when Andreas challenged the audience to think about implementing a new training policy, because all employees of the organisation need to be trained not only in data integrity, but also in the importance of FAIR data, so that they become data citizens.

Digital Mindset Shift for successful DX journey

When attending the PLA® conferences, there are numerous opportunities to get in touch with solution providers. In the exhibition hall, networking sessions and sponsored workshops, discussions focused on products and systems that meet a need.

>While technology is an enabler of digital transformation, it is not the solution. A business transformation solution requires multiple skilled teams, a change management strategy and emphasises the need for employee training and cultural change.

However, to support the digital mindset shift, intuitive solutions with a simple user interface and a limited number of clicks to perform a procedure were mentioned several times to laboratory informatics providers.

Not everyone is willing to switch if they are already struggling with the simple login process, have forgotten their password and can be a potential risk factor in terms of data integrity and security for the organisation. On the other hand, companies cannot remain idle when they are competing for new applicants who bring new necessary skills and actively demand digitalised processes through modern technologies.

Quality Culture, part of Corporate Core Beliefs

Quality Culture does not come with an “On” button that magically transforms an organisation.  Thanks  to the presentations delivered by Bob McDowall and Marie Jorna, Quality Director, Data Integrity & Digitalization Center of Excellence at MSD Animal Health, it seemed obvious to everyone why a quality culture is important in an organisation.

Whilst Bob started straight away by saying that for him a culture of quality is the condicio sine qua non for data integrity. He makes it clear that it is the job of management with leadership responsibility to create a quality culture where employees understand that data integrity is a core value of the organisation and where employees are encouraged to identify and promptly report data integrity issues.

The Iceberg of Ignorance

The iceberg of ignorance has made it very clear that ultimately management needs to be more aware of how work is being done and what the problems are, e.g. through Gemba walks.

Every employee should have data integrity objectives in their job description

As an example, among other warnings, he cited the Stason and Tender Corp FDA warnings letters from July 2020, which stated: “Management needs knowledge of computer systems” – key for digitalisation projects!

“The Iceberg of Ignorance”, a study popularly attributed to consultant Sidney Yoshida concludes:  “Only 4% of an organization’s front-line problems are known by top management, 9% are known by middle management, 74% by supervisors and 100% by employees…”

Although the Yoshida study involved numerous mid-sized organizations, the basic findings tend to be the same in organizations of any size.

Here some extra reading from 2017 MHRA blog

• Too much pressure: a behavioural approach to Data Integrity (Part 1) – MHRA Inspectorate (blog.gov.uk)
• Too much pressure: a behavioural approach to Data Integrity (Part 2) – MHRA Inspectorate (blog.gov.uk)

Quality Culture Definition

Complementing Bob in this session dedicated to quality culture, Marie Jorna from MSD Animal Health brought the perspective of quality officers working on educational initiatives across all facilities in her organisation.

She proposed a definition for quality culture: “habits, norms, values and standards of organisational behaviour that influence the quality of products”. However, from her experience, Marie also pointed out that building a common culture involves all cultures and subcultures, proposing customised training, creating a community of practise, spreading knowledge about the regulations, encouraging people to speak out.

The aim is to instil a sense of quality culture in everyone so that they become digital, gain efficiency and productivity while fully complying with regulations.

I am personally delighted that the human aspect of DX projects was so well received at PLA2024Europe.

We are grateful to all our #PLA2024Europe keynote speakers, presenters and panellists for being so open about their digital transformation experiences, challenges, benefits, reflections and conclusions.

Last but not least, this edition was also very special because we were able to welcome so many women on stage and in the audience.

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At the PLA® conference, we always endeavour to bring real-life examples to the stage, presented by their own project leader.

This year’s contribution by Mrs Silvia Primon, manager of Quality Control at the Zeta Farmaceutici Group, is something very special for us. She is keen to share her experiences, and, above all, the lessons learnt while introducing the digital transformation journey and strategy at Zeta.
As a leader, Mrs Primon has always been passionate about soft skills and true believer of the driving force that can impulse a team when used correctly.

Soft skills play a critical role in taking a team to the next level by fostering effective communication, collaboration, and overall team dynamics. Since the early stages of the New LIMS project, it has been crucial to utilise her leadership skills in this direction. As the title of her presentation suggests. Blue Sky Project: Soft skills to implement a lab software that “kills”

Blue Sky Project: Soft skills to implement a lab software that “kills”

Building the team’s confidence in a vision for the future and gaining their commitment to realising that vision, has empowered the team to proactively overcome any contretemps along the way. Comments Ms Primon to our event director.

When it comes to implementing software, where every stumbling block is an excuse to delay the project, lose confidence in the project and question the change, this refreshing true story will shed light on a brighter future to achieve fully paperless processes.

Our #PLA2024Europe program has been carefully crafted to discuss the most pressing challenges and exciting opportunities in the digital lab space. From insightful keynote addresses from industry leaders to interactive panel discussions, hands-on workshops from experts and thought-provoking presentations, the conference promises an immersive experience that transcends traditional boundaries.

As we navigate this digital landscape together, we encourage you to actively engage, ask questions and collaborate with fellow participants.

The Paperless Lab Academy® is not just a conference, but a dynamic platform for sharing knowledge, networking, and fostering the evolution of labs around the world.

Secure your free seat today!

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I have always been fascinated by Sci Fi representation of labs. The voice of a central Artificial Intelligence can be heard in the laboratory to provide services to laboratory workers and trigger general alerts in catastrophic movies. I think there is some truth in this imagination of the laboratory of the future, but it is a safe bet that the laboratory 5.0 will not look exactly like what is imagined. Let’s investigate!

Internet of Lab Thing: What are we familiar to?

We already live today with many systems that have enabled the digitalization of the laboratory:

• Internet allows access to knowledge bases, and enables systems communication
• LIMS, ELN, and all other software and database systems make it possible to enhance data, manage them and ensure their quality and traceability
• The laboratory processes are formalized, through operational, quality and automation oriented methodologies, generally transcribed in the laboratory’s QMS
• The instruments are becoming more and more automated, from the gas chromatography machine that automatically draws chromatograms, to new automatic sample collection machines, for example

We have adopted these examples for a long time in our daily laboratory life, and we now perceive the possibility of going further in the digitalization of the laboratory.

Internet of Lab Thing: What do we already expect for tomorrow?

Today we expect a lot from artificial intelligence, in its ability to analyze data, make decisions, make complex calculations much faster than humans.

Databases and the value of their data are fueling the development of big data, data science, and machine learning to exploit data beyond everything that has been done so far.
The good old robots already widely used in industrial production are evolving towards the concept of “cobots”. We will also have to familiarize ourselves with these “collaboration robots” that are intended to work closely with humans, not separately.
As for the Internet of Things, it is already part of our daily life at home and has not yet entered the laboratory environment. This Internet of Laboratory Things (IoLT) will reveal the potential of all these technologies, in particular by allowing the interconnection of intelligent systems, sensors and machines.

Internet of Lab Thing: So, what’s next?

The complete integration of all these technologies will lead the laboratory to the next stage of its digitization. And the integration of every lab components together will be made possible thanks to the IoLT: from humans to instruments, from instruments to databases, from sensors to central AI, etc. Sensors and lab instruments will be connected to the network and able to communicate with the whole laboratory information system. Humans also, on the same level as AI, will be able to supervise, communicate, control data, sensors, instruments, etc. That’s IoLT.

Internet of Lab Thing: “Connected humans”

Human-computer interactions will be pushed to their climax with full adoption of technologies such as :

• Virtual and Augmented Reality
• Speech recognition
• Gestures control
• Biometric authentication: fingerprints, voice prints, facial recognition. Even all together for very secure systems are fully possible
• Etc.

All these technologies are key accessories connected together thanks to the central IoLT technology.
Humans can therefore also be connected remotely. This leads to few or no humans physically present in the lab, only machines will remain there, and humans will keep control of them from their chairs at home.

Human consideration in all of this

Human is replaced in performing risky, repetitive tasks, and where he can also make mistakes. Human is also replaced wherever the “machine” is more efficient than him: in tasks that require physical strength, high computational or decision-making capacity, etc. But he is not replaced in his most interesting and rewarding tasks, he remains the master and configures the machines, initiates the systems, maintains them, supervises them, and values their results. He remains present from the initiative of the existence of these systems to the exploitation of the results.
Furthermore, each man can certainly be replaced by 1 machine capable of doing 10 times what a human is capable of. But each human can then supervise / control / etc. 10 of these machines. The ROI is easy to estimate, either on its financial or human dimensions.

From Sci Fi to Reality

A centralized artificial intelligence will have access to the ubiquitous cameras in the laboratory, and to all sources of knowledge and control: the AI will be connected to the sensors installed in the building, it will also have access to all the databases, etc. It will have in the end a capacity of surveillance and control at the height of what authors of science fiction have already imagined, like the Red Queen in Resident Evil films, a lab version of HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey to cite only these (and certainly not the most reassuring). But are people willing to accept this? This is undoubtedly a new change which
can be difficult to adopt. But what is the point of worrying if in the end there is no longer any person physically present in the laboratory.

IoLT: the key link for integration into laboratory 5.0

Humans are already all interconnected with each other and with knowledge bases thanks to their Smartphones. It is a cultural fact perfectly acquired by modern society. These intermediate systems for interconnection will be deployed in all ecosystems, and laboratories will not be spared. Interconnection systems will appear to interconnect the laboratory in its different components. Whether the laboratory equipment is natively connected or not to the lab network, they will be equipped with totipotent communication accessories. These accessories currently have a singular name: “IoT gateways”. This
name is a bit reductive in my opinion, it should probably be seen as a “Smartphone” for equipment, for databases, for central AI, for humans in the lab. These IoT Gateways are the building blocks of the IoLT, the final link that will soon allow the integration of physical, digital, and human systems. Paving the way for a synergy of systems whose potential surely exceeds us. For the time being.

A beginning

The lab 5.0 will arrive.
The IoLT will play a major role as a key link for the lab integration of systems and technologies, and it will be a revolution in the way of working and even living. Are we ready to accept this? This will again be a new challenge with regard to the changes to be adopted.
If you thought the lab’s “digital revolution” was getting closer to its objectives, I think there’s still a lot to do, with a lot of surprises to come. We may still be at the very beginning of what we call digitalization.

Connected Labs is sponsoring and exhibiting at the Paperless Lab Academy 2020 European edition and will be available for you to contact

Thomas Perraudin, Co-Founder of Connected Labs 

Thomas is an experienced entrepreneur and computer scientist, fond of technological innovation. Founder of Cerebellis, a company specialized in software development for biology and health industries. He partnered with SoftNLabs in 2019 to create a new IoLT solution: Connected Labs

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