Issues

This chapter looks at how to build a smart laboratory; what approaches to take; and how to deal with potential problems. Becoming ‘smart’ takes time, not only due to the level of investment required, but also because of the impact of change and the need to consider legacy requirements.

The rate of change in computer technologies is far greater than in the laboratory and in business, and this unavoidably means that the computing experience in the laboratory will lag behind the consumer experience. Additionally, the constraints of IP, regulatory and legal compliance do not lend themselves to risk-taking when deploying new technologies. New laboratory informatics projects demand a carefully managed and risk-averse approach

This chapter will look at the four major laboratory informatics tools – laboratory information management systems (LIMS), electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs), laboratory execution systems (LES) and scientific data management systems (SDMS) – their differences and how they relate to each other. Each of these systems functions at or around the ‘Information’ layer (see Figure 1) and typically serves to collate data and information about the laboratory’s operations

This chapter will consider the different classes of instruments and computerised instrument systems to be found in laboratories and the role they play in computerised experiments and sample processing – and the steady progress towards all-electronic laboratories. 

However, the choice of best-of-breed laboratory instruments and instrument systems can present challenges when it comes to getting everything to work together in a seamless way. The final part of this chapter will look at the issue of standard data interchange formats, the extent of the challenge, and some of the initiatives to address them

Informatics experts share their experiences on the implementation of new technologies and managing change in the modern laboratory

This chapter serves as an introduction to this guide, Building a Smart Laboratory 2019. We hope to highlight the importance of adopting smart laboratory technology but also to guide users through some of the challenges and pitfalls when designing and implementing paperless technologies in the laboratory.