Common Fund has several large scale data coordination programs that include DCCs for the 4D Nucleome, GTEx, HMP, Kids First, LINCS, Metabolomics, HubMAP, MoTrPAC, and SPARC. One purpose of this report is to provide an overarching view of the content, status and maturity of the DCCs. Our specific charge was to evaluate the state of Common Fund DCCs to determine opportunities and challenges for increasing the value and usability of Common Fund datasets. The material in this report reflects several modes of engagement to better understand the Common Fund DCCs. This includes two site visits with GTEx and Kids First, two 3 hour teleconference interviews with HMP and LINCS, and webinar presentations to all groups. During Phase 1 of the DCPPC we also conducted working group calls on a weekly basis with the GTEx group. To gather additional data, we performed a thorough review of the websites and resources of all nine DCCs.
Below, we provide a summary of the results of our overall evaluation of the DCCs as well as our site visits. We then follow that summary with recommendations for investment in 5 categories:
- Supporting individual DCC needs
- Investing in common DCC needs
- Continuing the Common Fund Data Ecosystem project’s work to support this transformation.
- Investing in additional work by the CFDE project to drive transformational change.
- Considering RFAs for longer-term work to support the Common Fund DCC at an ecosystem level.
We end the report with a summary of risks and challenges to the overall effort of improving FAIRness within and between the Common Fund DCCs.