An independent economic impact report details substantial financial returns and scientific advancement derived from open biodata resources, primarily those managed by EMBL-EBI. The infrastructure generates an estimated £11.8 billion annually in productivity gains and £6.3 billion per year in returns on research and development. This publicly accessible data, cited as crucial for the burgeoning field of AI-driven science, enables work that would otherwise be impossible or prohibitively time-consuming, according to survey respondents.
Financial Returns and Scientific Enablement
The report, based on an independent study, highlights that for every unit of cost invested in EMBL-EBI data resources, the benefits realised are 108 times greater. Over 70% of surveyed researchers stated that EMBL-EBI facilitates critical work that could not be done, or would demand significant extra time and effort, without these resources. The findings underscore a growing reliance on open data for accelerating scientific discovery and tackling global challenges.
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Productivity Gains: Users report saving an average of 11 hours per week, directly contributing to the £11.8 billion in annual productivity benefits.
R&D Returns: An estimated £6.3 billion per year is attributed to research and development enabled by these data resources.
Enabling the Impossible: A significant majority of respondents rely on these resources for work that is otherwise infeasible.
Catalysing AI and Innovation
The infrastructure's role in fostering AI development is particularly pronounced. Respondents indicated that 42% contribute to AI and machine learning model development, with 36% building new tools and databases directly on top of EMBL-EBI's offerings. The success of advanced AI systems like DeepMind's AlphaFold 2, which precisely predicts protein structures, is presented as a prime example, having been trained on these freely available biological datasets. This synergy points to open data as a critical component for scaling transformative AI applications in life sciences.
Growing Reliance and Future Needs
The usage and impact of open data are reported to be increasing year on year. The COVID-19 pandemic further amplified this trend, with a notable percentage of researchers valuing EMBL-EBI resources more highly during that period due to intensified efforts in sharing molecular data for SARS-CoV-2. This increasing dependence highlights the need for sustained funding to maintain and develop these vital resources, ensuring continued progress in fields ranging from molecular biology and medicine to agriculture and ecology.
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Testimonials underscore critical dependence:
"Our services rely on EMBL-EBI services, and there are no real alternatives for us."
"As a structural biologist, my work relies on accessing PDB, EMDB, EMPIAR and AlphaFold databases."
"If I couldn’t access the protein databases or EMBL-EBI courses my job would be impossible and all this research and discoveries would stop entirely."
Background
The Economic Development and Impact Report was commissioned by EMBL-EBI (European Molecular Biology Laboratory – European Bioinformatics Institute). The study, conducted by an independent entity, surveyed a broad range of users from academia and industry. It examined the economic and scientific contributions of EMBL-EBI’s public data resources and services, which are freely accessible globally. The report’s findings aim to inform stakeholders about the tangible value derived from investing in open scientific data infrastructure.
