Meet the VIVO Project Director

Layne JohnsonJune 25, 2014

Welcome!

• Formally trained as a PhD life scientist–Microbial metabolism and genetics–Discovery research in

pharmaceuticals• Anticancer, anti-infectives, agriculture• High-throughput screening – lots of data

• Evolved into an information scientist• Global Head Information Management

Experience with Collaboration Tools

• Lotus Notes - Drug Development Teams– Open culture, content, ease of use

• Plumtree portal – GIN – global use– Market segmentation critical– Internal and external information

• Harvard Profiles – Academic Health Center– First ever research network at UMN

• SciVal Experts/PURE – UMN – useful beyond biomedical disciplines

My First Face to Face Involvement with VIVOVIVO Conference – 2010

A Gathering for the Like-Minded

Taking Notes at VIVO 2010

University of Florida VIVO Outreach

What Did I Learn at VIVO 2010?

• The VIVO Community is open, willing to share and learn, committed to excellence

• VIVO served noble causes– Assisting researchers– Supporting medical advances– Flexibility – boundless & cross-disciplinary

• Standard data formats allow easy reuse• Ontology is not a dirty word• Attendees were platform agnostic & aligned

VIVO Values - Widely Adopted

• Clinical and Translational Science–Research Networking Affinity Group–DIRECT2Experts – to federate searches–User Survey 2012 – adoption status–LOD Standards – endorsed by CTSA

• Locally at UMN–Expanded research networking–Migrated to VIVO standards

Adoption of LOD & VIVO Ontology

LOD & VIVO Ontology Adoption Status – 48 CTSA Institutions

Obeid, et al. 2014. in press

The Foundation is Sound

• Realizing that semantic web and ontology standards were critical for widespread, facile data sharing, I recognized that VIVO was core to the success of a wide variety of applications

• The collaboration of VIVO and DuraSpace formalized a model to ensure the long-term sustainability

• The stage had been set, but yet there remained a need for a Project Director

Project Director: Primary Responsibilities

• Oversee operations• Oversee software projects• Community management• Marketing and communications• Provide strategic vision

Understanding VIVO Operations

–Participation with Steering Group–The VIVO Charter

• In development when I came on board• Finalized by Steering Group, undergoing

Leadership Group review• Outlines key elements for operations and

VIVO governance• Critical for establishing the guidelines

within which VIVO operates is governed

Elements of the VIVO Charter

• Vision & Mission• Overarching Goals

– Manage the open-source VIVO platform– Manage the VIVO-ISF Ontology as a linked data

standard– Lead & support VIVO & VIVO-ISF implementations– Conduct conferences, summits & related events– Work with partner institutions, commercial

affiliates, and organizations to support the open exchange of information about researchers, research resources, and scholarship using Linked Open Data

THE VIVO ORGANIZATION

The overarching goals of VIVO are accomplished through various governance roles.

These roles have new names.

Their purpose is to ensure the sustainability of VIVO.

Leadership Group

• Establishes priorities and is responsible for making strategic decisions– Annual budget allocation;– Substantial changes in allocations during

the year;– Strategic project roadmap;– Strategic community direction.

• Platinum Members ($20,000+), or 0.5 FTE as approved by Leadership Group

Steering Group

• Provides overall guidance to the project– ensures that the goals of the project are

met– provides strategic guidance and support to

the Project Director• Nine members, two at large, two ex-

officio• Set strategy subject to Leadership

Group Approval, deal with major operations issues

Management Team

• New group – follows DuraSpace Model– Yet to be fully adopted – I plan to use this

group to address strategic issues, priorities– Led by VIVO Project Director, includes

Working Group Leads, principal VIVO-funded project positions, and key DuraSpace staff (especially communications and funding expertise)

– Provides on-going operational project management – relies on Steering Group

Working Groups

• Apps and Tools – Chris Barnes, Ted Lawless

• VIVO-ISF Ontology – Melissa Haendel, Brian Lowe

• Implementation & Development (Joint Working Groups) – Jon Corson-Rikert, Jim Blake

• Outreach & Engagement – Kristi Holmes & Julia Trimmer – Revamp & Retool

VIVO Organization Recap

Leadership Group

Steering Group

Management Team

Working Groups

Oversee operations

–Spoken to all Working Group Leads–Met with key Leaders–Two-day DuraSpace Introduction–Met with University Colorado Boulder

and Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) VIVO teams

–Met with American Psychological Association VIVO Leadership

Oversee software projects

–Upgrade to VIVO 1.7–Extension of VIVO-ISF–Moving VIVO from Incubator to

Project Status–Update the VIVO wiki–Migrate VIVOweb.org to DuraSpace–Becoming familiar with key

applications

Community Management

–Reviewed and updated key contacts– Launched VIVO Membership Campaign–Adopting DuraSpace best practices–Migrating to ZOHO CRM–Outreach & Engagement Working Group

Review - to make engagement easy

Marketing and Communications

– Identify current processes, targets, and ensure appropriate, timely messaging – leverage our resources

–Engage DuraSpace Director of Marketing and Communications

–Encourage collaboration and transparency

Provide Strategic Vision

–Operational Issues, like the Charter, communications, membership campaign and engaging DuraSpace support took priority

– It’s clear to me: we need to develop a plan with clear, near term objectives

–VIVO needs for a Roadmap to ensure we know where we want to go

Where I’m Focusing My Efforts

• VIVO Membership – we must gain financial support of our stakeholders to accomplish our goals and build the VIVO Community

• VIVO Search – aggregate and expand• Registered Service Providers – these

relationships will provide users with implementation, adoption, and participation support

• The role of VIVO and National Data Services

Focus on Engagement

• Increase member participation on Working Groups

• Make it clear to new and existing VIVO members how to engage

• Underscore the importance of member engagement in open-source communities

• Expand the VIVO Community• Ensure long-term sustainability

Build a Clearer Understandingof User Needs

• Would be nice if standard software were being used – Java, Python, Solr, Funnelback, e.g.

• Need for greater Harvester support• Version updates are sometimes difficult

because of ontology changes• Trust frameworks could further validate

authors• A need for greater user design input

“Can you hear me now?”

• Two-way communication channels are not clearly understood

• DuraSpace: include as an integral part of marketing and communications

• VIVO wiki and VIVOweb.org are in need of upgrading, cleanup, and organization

• Good channels and support exist, but it’s difficult to use them efficiently

Create the VIVO Strategic Plan

• The VIVO Community, Working Groups, and others want and deserve direction

• A Strategic Plan must be developed – to create “orchestration with a purpose”

• I cannot provide strategic vision without a plan

• Our hope is to gather this fall to develop a pragmatic strategy that is vetted and embraced by the community

Do We Have What We Need?

• The Foundation is Sound• The Community includes world-class

talent• VIVO Leadership and DuraSpace have a

firm commitment• The key elements are in place and you

can play a role in shaping the future of VIVO

Your Membership is Important

Membership Gives You A Voice

Primarily through VIVO Governance Benefits and

DuraSpace Membership Benefits

VIVO Governance Benefits

DuraSpace Member Benefits

• A variety of benefits, which include advance VIVO project announcements, discounts for training, seating at the Annual DuraSpace Summit, DuraSpace governance opportunities

• Level of benefits increase at higher levels of membership

DuraSpace Umbrella Services

• Legal • Licensing • Governance • Developer resources • Mentoring • Technology expertise • International

exposure • Contributors • Recognition • Marketing and

Communications

• Webinars • Education • Peer Support • Conferences • Community

development • Service providers • Admin support • Grants • Advocacy • Strategic planning

This Year’s Membership Goal

• $240,000• To date, slightly more than $140,000 has

been raised• A mixture of corporate and institutional

members• Some new members have already

contributed• I will be working with you and your

institution to discuss funding opportunities

VIVO 2014 – August 6-8, Austin, TX

My Vision for the Future

• The VIVO Community maintains & increases its commitment to its open source users

• We become more nimble as the VIVO Community grows, participates, & engages

• We have the patience to work hard for what we need

• VIVO continues to go far beyond research networking – serves as a semantic platform for a wide variety of functionality that is only limited by our imagination

Thank You !

Questions?