Academic and Scientific Researchers Benefit from Cloud Computing
Some of the most transformative innovations are those that not only solve an issue but also change a whole field of study or industry dramatically. Jake Schofield and Labstep are of the view that they do exactly that. Their cloud-based technology is transforming the way their results are recorded, shared, and finally replicated by scientists and researchers.
Schofield and his team, arising from first-hand frustrations in the laboratory, found that keeping a conventional paper lab book or deploying some of the digital lab books available frequently led to lost data, wasted time, and missed opportunities for collaboration. Lab step was motivated by bad design, costly subscriptions, and time-consuming installations to create an alternative platform that aims to be simple, safe, and secure to record and share research.
Schofield recently talked about Labstep’s success in both scientific research and academic communities with EdSurge.
Some of the most transformative innovations and applications are those that not only solve an issue but also alter a whole field of study or industry dramatically.
What are the Problems Academics Face
Schofield said he worked in biomedical and genetic science initially. In science, we have made huge strides, but we have used very outdated ways to collect, collect and record our knowledge and processes. The industry is more notebook-oriented also. Around 60 percent of all research has traditionally not been able to be replicated. We started to be an academic or teaching instrument initially, but soon became a strong instrument for all scientific researchers as well. We realized that, when sharing and working in real-time, there was a big need to capture their work.
We didn’t want to see great scientific work continue to rely on the additional and separate time that a scientist or researcher had to spend attempting to capture their work. We realized that a better way had to be here. We decided to connect all the tools and resources in science together and collect a process record that you can share with colleagues in real-time. It seemed like science itself would profit from this. In both academic and commercial research, Labstep has set out to bring meaningful positive change to science and laboratory environments. In academia, in real-time, an educator can now access their research technique and share it as an example with 50 students. On the commercial side, Labstep was used as their vehicle for one of the first rapid COVID-19 tests produced in the United States.
How Does Labstep Help Researchers
Our goal was to have a positive effect and to help as many researchers and scientists as possible. Lab step is paid for by commercial researchers such as major pharmaceutical and industrial scientists, which allows us to give it for free to individuals in academia. We set up more of an institutional arrangement that links into their structures once we get many users at one institution. But for all individual users, it’s free, to begin with. We now have a large team to support both private and academic researchers. In terms of a pain point sensed by users, we always had the idea to solve a problem and then carried out a mission that coincided with our goals.
Labstep Saves Money and Time for Researchers
All the above. It has been recognized by science that reproducibility is a problem. For 10 years, we had digital notebooks and laboratory papers, but they relied on individual researchers to do the manual work. This is about our application that enables data and information to be gathered by all devices, software, and tools while sharing and collaborating in real-time. If you make a breakthrough discovery, let’s say a new cancer treatment, you can share the steps and procedures so that others can benefit. For both researchers and scholars, it’s extremely disruptive.
We’re not a diary where you write down what you’ve done, but we’re a collaborative platform that records and then shares in real-time a snapshot of the steps and processes. You may get others to comment and take a look at the task. Collaboratively, you can share meaningful experiences. To change the way all study is carried out, we see ourselves as a stepping stone. Science is very fractured. We need to make sure we capture the mechanism and extend these to other experiments and findings. It’s about maintaining the reproducibility of one’s work.
What Memories Do You Have from University
Organically, the culture has evolved. Sometimes, we’ll get one user, and then we’ll get other colleagues on board. It could start with someone at Georgia Tech, but then they collaborate in America with someone. The Francis Crick Institute in London, Europe’s largest life sciences research center, began using Labstep with individual laboratory groups and then expanded to an institute-wide deployment. With partners all over the world, they are a real hub. In key fields such as cancer, immune systems, malaria, and ageing, these guys are world pioneers in the scientific community. We collaborate with many other major research institutions and organizations around the world, but with hundreds of researchers there, Francis Crick has a very large and high-profile role. If you take a strong, influential, and transformative research organization and deploy the Labstep Institute widely, it will advance considerable science work.
What Makes Labstep a Success
The tech accelerator, curriculum, and collaboration with AWS as part of the AWS EdStart has been extremely powerful and impactful for us. There is a reason why cloud computing is the industry norm. It enables one with disruptive technology to scale up rapidly. For the scientific community, enabling us to create a browser-based solution that can be accessed on any computer is a game-changer. Being part of the AWS network and using all of those partnerships and innovations has been a tremendous help. Our performance has several variables, but introducing a revolutionary cloud-based solution to the market with amazing technological support is an advantage. A better understanding of the educational space was provided by this collaboration.
Should Business Leaders Return to School
My message to others will be to make sure you’re beginning to solve a real problem. Make sure it’s about searching for a point of pain that you want to relieve versus just adding value.
First, I was a scientist. So, we’ve been scientific about how things are made. Mission-driven, we are. We’re focusing on problem-solving. It is about bringing some of the brightest minds together to join the team. More scientific methods vs. start-up methodology were adopted by us. First and foremost, I may be an entrepreneur, however, I approach my job scientifically. My message to others will be to make sure you’re beginning to solve a real problem. Make sure it’s about searching for a point of pain that you want to relieve versus just adding value. In the education space, there are some specific business aspects to working. However, beyond solving an issue, it’s about not getting distracted by something else.
Next Steps
We’ve got some disruptive and strong stuff coming out soon. We want to be the go-to, fundamental instrument for laboratory-based science. For scientific study and exploration, we want to be the dominant global weapon. We want to improve how scientific research is done and have a constructive, accelerating effect on research. We want to be part of all critical, disruptive studies, including drugs, chemicals, food, and see the effects of the real world. Yes, we are building a business. But beyond that, the consumers with whom we associate have a tremendous positive impact. Being part of their growth and global problem solving is exciting.