What Is a Scientific Data Management System (SDMS)?

Scientific data management systems (SDMS) are digital tools for the safety and accessibility of scientific data. These systems allow for more efficient data organization and analysis.

How Are Scientific Data Management Systems Used?

A scientific data management system records, organizes, and stores data produced by many types of laboratory equipment. These systems are often designed for pre-defined and specific uses, and in formats with varying degrees of structure.

Here are some key characteristics: 

• SDMS is designed to manage unstructured and diverse data sets, as compared to other systems that are built for highly structured and homogenous data sets. This is a critical use case given that most of the research and development data is unstructured, ranging from PDFs to spreadsheets.
  

• SDMS is designed for data consolidation, knowledge management, and knowledge asset realization. For this reason, they often integrate other data systems, including crucial digital tools such as electronic laboratory notebooks. 

What Are the Benefits of SDMS Software?

Scientific data management systems are critical tools for the modern scientific process. Benefits include:

• SDMS solutions offer consistent, standardized formats that make the meaning of recorded data clear and concise. This capability is important because cells, columns, rows, and other elements of documents and spreadsheets incorporate metadata to have known, pre-defined identities.

• SDMS facilitates collaboration between colleagues from anywhere in the world.

• SDMS tools have an archival function, making it easy to access and share scientific data from any point in the past while providing a safe and organized space for storage.