AI Insight
A report by Frontier Economics, commissioned by EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), evaluates the economic value of open biological data resources in the life sciences sector. The study draws a parallel between open biodata infrastructure and traditional public infrastructures such as roads and electricity, suggesting that these digital resources have become equally foundational to scientific progress. The findings indicate that open data repositories maintained by institutions like EMBL-EBI generate substantial economic returns for the global life sciences community.
Why it matters
Quantifying the economic value of open biodata infrastructure provides a concrete justification for continued public investment in these resources, which support drug discovery, academic research, and biotechnology development worldwide.
Understand the Science
Public infrastructures like roads and electricity are so essential to society that people almost take their value for granted. A new report by Frontier Economics, commissioned by EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), shows that open data resources have become a similarly essential infrastructure for life sciences worldwide.
Source: Economic impact report examines the value of open biodata infrastructure