Through its core mission to foster sustainable economic growth while at the same time restoring and enhancing the environment for future generations, DAERA assumes a critical role in ensuring the progress of Northern Ireland’s agriculture and rural sectors, with a dedicated commitment to environmental preservation and the welfare of local communities across the region.
DAERA, or The Department of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs, is a UK Government department entrusted with diverse responsibilities relating to agriculture, environmental protection, and rural development in Northern Ireland.
DAERA recently embarked on the development and implementation of integrating a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) software solution across twelve government laboratories to support and further its operation, as well as contribute to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Science is pivotal
Robust scientific principles are integral within the Department, serving as a pivotal factor in shaping the policies and initiatives implemented by DAERA. So too is its commitment to science, which plays a vital role in fulfilling DAERA’s statutory obligations. This includes how it assesses outcomes, provides expert advice and information, drives innovation, manages societal risks, and supports Northern Ireland’s rural areas.
These principles also enable DAERA to strive to empower the best scientific expertise, and derive maximum value from its scientific endeavours, and to optimally harness scientific knowledge that supports its mission.
This ambition is leveraged through a program called the Science Transformation Programme (STP), an initiative aimed at revolutionizing management, governance, and the utilization of science within the Department. The ongoing development of the Information System for Laboratories in the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), and DAERA (ISLAND) project also plays a crucial role in achieving this objective.
The successful implementation of the ISLAND—Information System for Laboratories in AFBI, NIEA and DAERA (ISLAND)— project will help to enhance the visibility and accessibility of scientific data generated within the DAERA network, thereby constituting a fundamental aspect of accomplishing the ISLAND project’s overarching mission.
A platform of cutting-edge software capabilities
For DAERA to efficiently disseminate scientific insights from the ISLAND project and other projects across its domain, requires the Department to look to a modern, cutting-edge science informatics solution to help it manage scientific data output.
While laboratory software isn’t typically highlighted as a key consideration by organizations looking to reach carbon emission targets, it is synonymous with working efficiently, driving fast and informed decisions, eliminating rework and enabling reduced testing, which all contribute to less resource expenditure.
Since winning the tender contract to commence development of the platform in March 2023, Thermo Fisher Scientific has visited several AFBI/NIEA laboratories across Northern Ireland. Even at this very early stage, laboratory scientists have identified benefits that will be delivered through the implementation of Thermo Scientific™ SampleManager™ LIMS software.
Sharing meaningful data to advance
As a complete, comprehensive solution for lab, data and process management, the project will deliver immediate benefits brought about by the installation of SampleManager LIMS software across the Department. Not least, this will include its staff undertaking fewer paper-based tasks and the ability to share information more readily.
Stephen Moore, Senior Manager, Services at Thermo Fisher Scientific comments:
“SampleManager LIMS software is an incredible solution. It’s designed to control laboratory processes and deliver information that helps our customers from a range of industry sectors across the globe, to reduce inefficiencies, streamline laboratory operations, and align with quality standards and regulations. This is an incredible partnership, and together with DAERA and Thermo Fisher’s Professional Services teams, I look forward, over the next four years, to us delivering a tremendously capable LIMS configuration to support the vast scientific insights underpinning the advancement of the Department’s mandate and its work to develop, enhance as well as address the unique challenges faced by rural regions in my home of Northern Ireland.”
Meanwhile, as the development of the LIMS implementation continues and moves into the next phase, which includes workshop output to finalize the scope of the solution for the project’s requirements, Pauline Rooney, Director of DAERA Innovation and Science Transformation Division noted:
“DAERA is responsible for a number of challenging policy areas. One example is the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, which sets an ambitious statutory commitment to achieve net zero emissions in Northern Ireland by 2050. Science will be critical, both in providing the evidence to identify necessary policy interventions, and also to monitoring the ongoing improvements. It is vital that scientists across DAERA, NIEA and AFBI are supported by a state-of-the-art laboratory IT platform. Early collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific in developing the new platform has already demonstrated the potential benefits to the DAERA science family, such as the ability to share meaningful data across laboratories and with colleagues across DAERA.”
As more organizations, including government departments, are tasked with climate change targets, they will need to make use of software and other digital tools to optimise operations and make the incremental changes needed to reach their goals. More efficient lab operations and timely, science-led decisions are a clear opportunity for many organizations to realise effective results.
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