Towards Global Image Data Sharing

We are excited to announce that the paper "Enabling Global Image Data Sharing in the Life Sciences" has been published in Nature Methods by an ad-hoc international working group, including members of Euro-BioImaging ERIC. As of March 28, 2025, the paper is available for anyone to read about the urgent need for a robust ecosystem for sharing image data in life sciences research, and how to get there.

What is it all about?

The paper makes a compelling case for why we need to build an ecosystem for image data sharing and calls for everyone - funders and the scientific community alike - to join forces. This will allow for better exploitation of the enormous value of existing image data in the life and health sciences, and prevent the significant loss of unrealised value from past investments in image acquisition infrastructures. This collaborative approach aims to create a sustainable and profitable image data ecosystem that ensures optimal output for all involved.

Funders need to recognise that they currently lose significant value from their previous investments into imaging acquisition infrastructure unless they provide the essential resources for storing and making the resulting image data accessible.

Antje Keppler, Section Director of Euro-BioImaging Bio-Hub

In an important step towards the FAIRification of image data, image data experts from around the world have begun working together to agree on common data formats, metadata, ontologies and supporting tools. And even though the resources in Australia, Japan and Europe are already working together, for example  through the project foundingGIDE, to share global image data, these efforts won't be enough unless more countries invest in their own open data resources and are ready to connect them on a global scale.

Now it's your turn

The paper presents a comprehensive checklist of key recommendations serving as a roadmap for implementation of the image data sharing ecosystem. If adopted properly, those action steps have the power to consolidate the global imaging landscape.

The authors hope that this paper will create a domino effect, so that the action points are disseminated to key players in both the scientific community and funding organisations. This will kick-start an important debate and ultimately make the vision of an inclusive data sharing ecosystem a reality.

"We hope that these checklists will be picked up by scientists, research institutions and infrastructures across the globe to talk to their higher authorities and local funders about the current gaping holes in our global infrastructure landscape" Antje Keppler concludes.

Written by Isabel Kemmer