One of the common themes I run into when providing services for research is one of data sensitivity. We always ask the question: "Do you have sensitive data?" The researcher, when they have to say yes, knows that there are additional steps required in order to do the work that must be done. We, as service providers, then run the risk of becoming the leading purveyors of "wait" at best, or, "no" at worst.
What if there was a way to align the capabilities of information services with the needs of the researcher so that we could find creative ways to say yes, instead of worrying about solving the same security and compliance issues over and over? What if we could use automation to create environments tailor-made to solving a particular biological or informational question that are secure and compliant by default?
The Glove Box is designed to answer these questions.
What is The Glove Box?
The Glove Box, as the name implies, will be a service that provides researchers a means to analyze sensitive data in a secure environment. This implies that the data stays inside the box, without storing it on laptops or desktops in labs and offices. It can be accessed from any computer, and it removes the performance bottlenecks of storage and networking by keeping the data close to the components performing the calculations.
The Glove Box is designed to be safe and effective.
The Glove Box will assist researchers by using component design that has already passed security and compliance checks. Note I said component design, not components themselves. The goal is to define and document how we build environments so that we can re-use them in a modular fashion. Security, access and auditing capabilities are built-in from the outset. In this sense, researchers can combine and re-combine components compatible with their research at will.
The Glove Box is designed to be simple and easy to understand.
Technology has a tendency to be complex and difficult to operate. The Glove Box will create environments that are as easy to access as today's remote environments like Sites, or the Health System's Virtual Places. In addition, support and delivery will be done using the successful Flux support delivery model, which means that researchers get to use the same familiar faces in the same, familiar places as they do for other forms of research.
The Glove Box is designed to be current and relevant
Researchers will have access to standard tools such as SAS, STATA, and Matlab, but also tools like Hadoop and HPC. By using our methodology to define and validate how we design and build components, rather than what's been designed, updating toolsets becomes easier, and adding new ones becomes less cumbersome as well.
Where can I learn more?
Check out our Google Drive folder. (M+Google credentials required)
View our Email to potential endorsees.
I'm grateful to work in an institution that values, promotes, and implements ideas for the common good. It's one of the biggest reasons I love working at The University of Michigan.
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