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Solution
The Allotrope™Framework
The Allotrope™ Data Format is a vendor, platform, and technique agnostic format adaptable for any laboratory technique to store the data, contextual metadata, and any ancillary files; a self-contained experiment. Class libraries provide the reusable software components to adapt existing applications or create new solutions that work with the ADF and taxonomies, and ensure the consistent adoption of the standards. The ADF Explorer is a free standalone, lightweight application provided for opening and viewing data stored in the data description, data cube, and data package within an ADF file.
The Allotrope™ Taxonomies and Ontologies form the basis of a controlled vocabulary and relationships for the contextual metadata needed to describe and execute a test or measurement and later interpret the data. Drawing from thought across member companies and the Allotrope™ Partner Network the standard language for describing the equipment, processes, materials, and results is being developed to cover a broad range of techniques and instruments, driven by real use cases, in an extensible design.
Allotrope™ Data Models provide a mechanism to define data structures (schemas, templates) that describe how to use the ontologies for a given purpose in a standardized (i.e. reproducible, predictable, verifiable) way.
CLICK HERE to see a list of the available Allotrope Data Models and the status of those which are actively in progress.
Release Roadmap
The Allotrope Foundation Roadmap is publicly accessible here, and is updated quarterly.
The Framework components are available to Allotrope Community members, under an access model considering both commercial and non-profit use cases (Membership & Licensing).
We’re always recruiting volunteers to bring their expertise and priorities to the table and help define the ontologies and models for new techniques and workflows.
Framework Governance
A governance process has been established for the APIs and Taxonomies/Ontologies/Data Shapes. The latter case includes a model for modular working groups defining the terminology and models for a particular technique or workflow, feeding an established curation team and integration process, and principal semantic engineer to ensure adherence to architectural and style principles. Allotrope and APN members are, or have collaborated in working groups focused on HPLC, Mass Spectrometry, NMR, general technical issues, governance, certification and support processes.
Implementations
Member companies, collaborating with vendor partners have begun to implement solutions within their companies’ laboratories and demonstrate how the Framework enables cross-platform data transfer, facilitates finding, accessing and sharing data, and enables increased automation in laboratory data flow with a reduced need for error-prone manual input.
Reduction to practice by early adopters has established the technical feasibility of the Allotrope Framework and the Allotrope Data Format.