A management and governance structure to oversee and monitor the project has been implemented. The Bigpicture community has been built with an online working environment, regular project meetings, monthly communications, a newsletter, a website and social media. All partners are highly engaged, with active collaboration across work packages, demonstrated at the annual consortium meetings. Advisory boards are active. An updated Data Management Plan and ethics reports have been delivered.
The backend technical infrastructure of the Bigpicture repository is in operation with improved data-submission workflows, enhanced metadata handling, and dataset landing pages. Integration with Life Science AAI for authentication and authorization is complete, cybersecurity scanning is in place, indirect data access was demonstrated via Grand Challenge, and a filesystem-based access layer enables use without manual downloads. A new SOP and ticketing system streamline dataset ingestion.
To support the collection of harmonized and high-value data, a (meta)data model for directly accessible datasets was developed and updated. The node coordinator network has submitted data to the repository, and additional clinical partners have prepared datasets for submission. The non-clinical data transporter was further updated and deployed across EFPIA partner sites, resulting in successful submissions from two EFPIA partners. In total, 65,407 Whole Slide Image (WSI) have been successfully submitted, with ongoing uploads from all contributing parties. As part of the honest broker mechanism, the REMS service for managing data access requests and the Perun group management service have been implemented and integrated with LS-AAI.
Despite the unexpected bankruptcy of partner Cytomine, progress on AI tools continued: the platform was transferred to ULiege and a new version released enabling integration and execution of AI models. Tools for DICOM conversion and indirect data access were developed and demonstrated. Several AI models were created and integrated (quality control, image retrieval, toxicopathology), with work on domain adaptation and model interpretability. Foundational steps for model/annotation interoperability were taken via new metadata standards. Validation platforms and demonstrators were set up with pathologists, and planning for a Bigpicture foundation model began alongside ethical and technical assessments.
The basics for responsible data sharing namely the DPIA, pseudonymisation strategy and the ethics advisory board have been delivered. A comparison of national ethical and legal frameworks was completed. A major milestone was reached with formal sign-off of the Data Sharing Agreement and the Hosting & Processing Agreement in July 2024. Further outputs include DPIA updates, a white paper on digital pathology in toxicology, and reports on trustworthy AI, validation resources, and a hands-on workshop for pathologists.
To plan for sustainability, a mid-term business plan was developed. Ongoing stakeholder engagement, including with data contributors, refined value propositions and informed long-term sustainability and exploitation planning.
