title: "Life in Data"--Outcome of a Multi-Disciplinary, Interactive Biobanking Conference Session on Sample Data.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clinical, biodiversity, and environmental biobanks share many data standards, but there is a lack of harmonization on how data are defined and used among biobank fields. This article reports the outcome of an interactive, multidisciplinary session at a meeting of the European, Middle Eastern, and African Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking (ESBB) designed to encourage a 'learning-from-each-other' approach to achieve consensus on data needs and data management across biobank communities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Enviro-Bio and ESBBperanto Working Groups of the ESBB co-organized an interactive session at the 2013 conference (Verona, Italy), presenting data associated with biobanking processes, using examples from across different fields. One-hundred-sixty (160) diverse biobank participants were provided electronic voting devices with real-time screen display of responses to questions posed during the session. The importance of data standards and robust data management was recognized across the conference cohort, along with the need to raise awareness about these issues within and across different biobank sectors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While interactive sessions require a commitment of time and resources, and must be carefully coordinated for consistency and continuity, they stimulate the audience to be pro-active and direct the course of the session. This effective method was used to gauge opinions about significant topics across different biobanking communities. The votes revealed the need to: (a) educate biobanks in the use of data management tools and standards, and (b) encourage a more cohesive approach for how data and samples are tracked, exchanged, and standardized across biobanking communities. Recommendations for future interactive sessions are presented based on lessons learned.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medical Informatics and UMG Biobank, University Medical Center Göttingen , Göttingen, Germany .
authors.forename: Sara Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Nussbeck
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum , London, United Kingdom .
authors.forename: Muriel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rabone
authors.affiliation: 3 Damar Research Scientists , Cuparmuir, Fife, Scotland, United Kingdom .
authors.forename: Erica E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.affiliation: 4 Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin, Germany .
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Droege
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum , London, United Kingdom .
authors.forename: Jackie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mackenzie-Dodds
authors.affiliation: 5 ARC-Net Applied Research on Cancer Centre, University of Verona , Verona, Italy .
authors.forename: Rita T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Lawlor
mesh_terms: D018070:Biological Specimen Banks; D006801:Humans