14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft issued a call for presentations for the first annual BioIT Alliance Meeting and Conference, scheduled to take place at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge, on Oct. 8 and 9. The event will be focused on sharing best practices as well as fueling collaboration, but also integration and interoperability between members of the BioIT Alliance. The Redmond company stressed that collaborative efforts were the path to speeding up the process of making biological discoveries available to patients.
“With most drug discovery organizations relying on paper and nothing electronic and sharable outside the small lab workgroup, the BioIT Alliance formed with the vision of promoting integration and collaboration between these organizations to accelerate the realization of personalized medicine,” explained Les Jordan, U.S. life sciences industry chief technology strategist at Microsoft and executive director of the BioIT Alliance. “With more than 100 member companies today, the Alliance has made great strides in promoting this vision, and our first annual conference will serve as an opportunity to share best practices and discuss the state of the industry.”
Microsoft announced that it had started accepting presentation submissions for the October 2009 event. Members have until August 28 to indicate that they are willing to participate at the conference with a presentation. The Redmond company formed the BioIT Alliance in 2006 and used the BioIT World Life Sciences Conference and Expo to announce the initiative. The consortium of health organizations and hardware and software manufactures fits into Microsoft's vision of helping deliver personalized medicine.
“For presentations, we are particularly looking for: examples of collaboration and integration between member companies and technologies. Innovative new technologies or integration methodologies that advance the mission of the BioIT Alliance. To submit an abstract, please send it to: bita at microsoft.com. For nominations, we have been forming an initial board of directors, with 5 members appointed by Microsoft and two member-at-large positions to be chosen by the BioIT Alliance at the October meeting,” reads an announcement on the website.