Cancer, cloud and privacy shield

February 23, 2016 / G C Network / Comments Off on Cancer, cloud and privacy shield

Craigslist.org Founder Hypes Government Transformation

By G C Network | July 29, 2009

Craig Newmark, best known for being the founder of the Craigslist website, is working hard to get the word out on Gov2.0. Last week in FedScoop, he really laid out…

Maria Spinola: An Essential Guide to Cloud Computing

By G C Network | July 27, 2009

Maria Spinola, a Strategic IT Marketing and Innovation Adviser and editor at www.Cloudviews.org, has recently published An “Essential Guide to Possibilities and Risk of Cloud Computing“. Her very pragmatic approach…

US Interior Department IT Infrastructure Vision

By G C Network | July 22, 2009

Tim Quinn, Chief Infrastructure Officer, US Department of Interior, sees IP convergence as a key part of DoI’s future IT infrastructure. During the Federal News Radio Executive Forum, he also…

DHS Acting CIO Margie Graves on Current DHS Challenges

By G C Network | July 20, 2009

During the Federal News Radio Executive Forum, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Acting CIO, Margie Graves provides a unique insight on the department. In her remarks, she described the challenges…

DHS EAGLE & First Source Digital Guide Launched

By G C Network | July 17, 2009

The Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions (EAGLE) is a multiple-award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle, specifically designed as the preferred source of information technology (IT) services for…

Looking Forward To GovIT Expo!

By G C Network | July 14, 2009

I am humbled and more than pleased to serve as the Technical Chair of SYS-CON’s 1st Annual Government IT Conference & Expo. To highlight the importance of this conference, I…

Publishing Synergy: Blog, Twitter and Ulitzer

By G C Network | July 13, 2009

Have you ever been given the task of building and executing an aggressive customer outreach program? Well I received my assignment about a year ago and trust me; the budget…

Input: Cloud Computing, Security to Drive US Gov’t IT Spending

By G C Network | July 12, 2009

According to a PC World article, cloud computing and cybersecurity will be the high-growth areas for government IT spending over the next few years. The analysis and consulting firm Input…

GovIT Expo 2009

By G C Network | July 11, 2009

I’m happy to announce my appointment by SYS-CON to be the Technical Chair of the 1st Annual Government IT Conference & Expo. This event is a 1-day deep dive into…

NCOIC To Help FAA on NextGen

By G C Network | July 7, 2009

Today, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC™) announced an agreement to work together to advance the Enterprise Architecture of NextGen, FAA’s national…


(Originally published in Dell PowerMore)

For more than 10 years, the rapid rise of cloud computing has enabled an even more rapid application of cloud to genomic medicine. In fact, since the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) lifted a 2007 ban on uploading their genomic data into cloud storage, the explosion in cloud use has accelerated. Some of the most impressive accomplishments in this field have included the:
• Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) project, that brings together whole-genome sequencing data from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) projects. This resource describes over 2000 tumor and matched control samples that cover more than 30 cancer entities. Academics will be using the EMBL-EBI Embassy Cloud and high-performance computing centers at the University of Chicago, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute in Seoul, the University of California in Santa Cruz, the University of Tokyo and the Heidelberg Center for Personalized Oncology at the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) (https://news.embl.de/science/1507-genome-cloud/);
• 100,000 Genomes Project in the United Kingdom includes genomic data from 70,000 people including National Health Service patients with a rare disease, plus their families, and patients with cancer;
• Phoenix, Arizona-based Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Neuroblastoma and Medulloblastoma Translational Research Consortium on personalized medicine trials which uses high-performance computing in the cloud to sequence tumor samples to create new treatment database that help determine personalized drug therapy approaches for children. The project is also being expanded to pediatric cancer clinical trials in EMEA, starting with sites in France and Lebanon.
“Cloud Powered Genomics” brings with it:
• Speed. The time it takes to process the required 90 billion data points is reduced from 10 days to 6 hours or less



• Precision. The analysis of multiple terabytes of data now enables an ability for doctors to prescribe treatments that are fully matched to the individual patient instead of relying on treatments designed for a broad base of patients.
• Collaboration. Researchers and doctors worldwide can now share diagnostic and case information while drawing on an existing storehouse of massive medical knowledge which, in turn, helps improve outcomes and refines treatment protocols.
• Scalability. Storage and processing capacity grow over time as vast amounts of data are collected.

While cloud computing enables researchers and doctors to cost effectively analyze the enormous amount of data necessary to produce these insights at a rapid rate, the privacy issues raised are also daunting. Last year’snullification of Safe Harbor by the European Courts brings these issues to the forefront.
Even without announcing specific details, the European Commission announced a new framework for governing the flow of data across the Atlantic Ocean. Referred to as “Privacy Shield”, the agreement is meant to be a reflection of the requirements set out by the European Court of Justice in its ruling on 6 October 2015, which declared the old Safe Harbour framework invalid.
“The new arrangement will provide stronger obligations on companies in the U.S. to protect the personal data of Europeans and stronger monitoring and enforcement by the U.S. Department of Commerce and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), including through increased cooperation with European Data Protection Authorities. The new arrangement includes commitments by the U.S. that possibilities under U.S. law for public authorities to access personal data transferred under the new arrangement will be subject to clear conditions, limitations and oversight, preventing generalised access. Europeans will have the possibility to raise any enquiry or complaint in this context with a dedicated new Ombudsperson.”
Specific elements highlighted by the EC include:
• “Strong obligations” and “robust enforcement” on companies that handle Europeans’ personal data
• The U.S. Department of Commerce will monitoring of company published commitments to “Privacy Shield” that make the commitments enforceable under U.S. law by the FTC.
• Applicability to companies that handle human resources data from Europe.
• “Clear safeguards and transparency obligations” on U.S. government agencies’ access to data,
• Written assurances from the United States that access will be subject to “clear limitations, safeguards and oversight mechanisms”.
While the agreement has been lauded by many, its effect on the use of cloud computing on trans-Atlantic genomic research is still questionable. This new development will certainly introduce uncertainty and doubt into the business side of this important and burgeoning industry. We can only hope that any unintended circumstance don’t hinder this important medical progress.

( This post was written as part of the Dell Insight Partners program, which provides news and analysis about the evolving world of tech. Dell sponsored this article, but the opinions are my own and don’t necessarily represent Dell’s positions or strategies.)

Cloud Musings

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