A day at Lab Innovations! And some insight into shaping the future of lab digitalisation.

29th November 2023 - Last modified 3rd January 2024

By Kelly Buggy PhD, Director

Recently, some of the Alto team visited Lab Innovations – the UK’s only trade exhibition for the entire laboratory industry – in Birmingham. It was a great day spent visiting stands and seeing some exciting new technologies and catching up with lots of industry friends, from editors to clients, and even some new faces too! We were, admittedly, all a bit disappointed to not be attending Disney on Ice that was also on at the Birmingham NEC that day – but there’s always next time!

It was a busy day with lots of foot traffic from visitors and some really great talks across the different venues in the hall. We caught Maggie Philbin OBE’s keynote talk and got to hear about her work with TeenTech, a charity founded by Maggie (of Tomorrow’s World and Bang Goes the Theory fame!) and Chris Dodson to help students see the wide range of career possibilities within science, technology and engineering.

Unsurprisingly, lab digitalisation and sustainability were key themes of the day and we particularly enjoyed speaking with Chris Austin from eLabNext and hearing his talk on shaping the future of lab digitalisation – and the power of eLabNext. We’re no strangers to the products in the eLabNext portfolio and the possibilities and benefits they provide to scientists working in labs around the globe. We’ve worked with Eppendorf – which owns 60% of eLabNext – for a number of years and have written about eLabJournal and its integration with other digital solutions before, so we headed to meet Chris for an update!

One fact from his talk that surprised me was how many labs are yet to fully adopt digital solutions and are still operating on a largely paper-based model, relying on notebooks and spreadsheets. It’s been a while since I was last working in a lab (coming up to 10 years now – eek!), and with the technologies I’ve seen available, I was expecting the percentage of digital-adopters to be higher than the 7% mentioned in the presentation. And I wasn’t alone – a quick survey of the Alto office today showed that others on the team also expected this figure to be higher!

After going over the challenges with time-consuming paper-based systems that can cause errors and inefficiencies, and the emergence of data silos that reduce collaboration, access to information, and impede scientific progress, we got to see the eLabNext platform in action.  

Of course, some of the key benefits of using an electronic lab notebook and/or inventory software are related to audits, regulatory compliance and security. And although these are critical for many users, for me, the huge benefit is usability. I’ve been that PhD student gathering data from multiple instruments and systems, sticking pictures of SDS-PAGE gels into a blue, hardback notebook (I can picture it now!) – and inevitably spilling buffer on a page, forgetting to update the details of a protocol, or losing track of samples in the -80°C freezer! To be able to access and update all of this information, centrally and easily, just seems game-changing to me! So, what is it that’s holding people back?

We spoke to Chris, who said: “In many cases, it can be a concern of the unknown. Whilst many researchers and lab managers see the benefits and can appreciate the long-term gains in efficiency and data security with an ISO 27001 digital solution, they might be a little unsure on the implementation procedure.

That’s where we come in!

At eLabNext, we are here to provide more information about digital lab platforms, support the curious scientist and their company through a free 30 day trial (so they try before they buy) and explain how they can greatly improve the way they capture experimental and sample data, while optimising workflows and increasing productivity – and show them that these benefits are well worth making the switch from paper notebooks and many excel sheets.

Our customers range from academic research labs to biotech startups and big pharma all of whom are benefitting from the features and user-friendly nature of the eLabNext lab management software. If this is you, then why not get ahead of your competition, book a short discovery call and start your digitalisation journey today! You can sign up for a demo or a 30-day trial, so why not give it a try?”

Another great feature of the eLabJournal and eLabInventory platforms is the large number of add-ons and integrations possible through eLabMarketplace. Whether its sensor monitoring and control through VisioNize from Eppendorf to make sure your samples are safe and stored at the correct temperature, or Box/GoogleDrive/Dropbox/Microsoft Office to ensure file sharing and integration is as easy as possible. There’s even links with your Mendeley library to make referencing quick and simple. This holistic approach means that adopting a digital solution like eLabJournal is as stress-free as possible, integrating with existing systems and saving you time and effort at set-up and throughout your entire research project.

For more information on improving your laboratory workflow with digitalisation, here’s a blog we wrote for Eppendorf on digital lab solutions (including eLabNext’s eLabJournal and eLabInventory) and how they can help streamline everyday workflows and strengthen your data. Or you can visit the eLabNext website where there’s loads of great content and info on their blog.