Getting your DUCs in a row - standardising the representation of Digital Use Conditions

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Informatics
• Data Science
• Health Policy

Background:

• Advancing scientific discovery and patient care necessitates responsible sharing of research data, healthcare records, biosamples, and biomedical resources.
• Managing the diverse and complex use conditions associated with these assets presents a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the complexity of defining and managing use conditions for biomedical resources.
• To propose a flexible and adaptable framework for structuring and managing these conditions.

Main Methods:

• Review of the current state of the art in managing use conditions.
• Development of the Digital Use Conditions (DUC) framework.
• Leveraging existing standards to balance expressiveness and ambiguity.

Main Results:

• Identified a near-unlimited range of asset types and high variability in applicable conditions.
• Highlighted the need for a flexible approach considering individual/collective use and context.
• Proposed DUC as a solution balancing expressiveness, ambiguity, and context.

Conclusions:

• Standardizing Digital Use Conditions (DUC) is crucial for effective and responsible sharing of biomedical resources.
• The DUC framework offers a adaptable solution to manage diverse use conditions, facilitating research and patient care.
• DUC balances the need for detailed information with practical application across various contexts.