Red Hat to Bring Open Source Philosophy to Campus

Red Hat today announced that the company would work with the University of North Carolina system and the North Carolina Research Campus to advance the adoption of open source philosophies of standards and collaboration in biotechnology, bioinformatics, public policy and healthcare research. The Company plans to establish a presence on the research campus in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and will work with public and private sector tenants to advance the usage of open source technology, process and problem solving in the various research sectors located on the campus. This latest announcement is another milestone in the long-term relationship Red Hat has enjoyed with the University of North Carolina.

Our goal is to make collaboration and open source come to life in the field of clinical research. With our partners, we will identify specific projects where the sharing of information will lead to better, more accurate research. In turn this research will enable real-life solutions to be developed across both the public and private sector at the North Carolina Research Campus, said Joanne Rohde, Executive Vice President of Operations at Red Hat. The history of open source has taught us that the more broadly and transparently information is shared and re-used, the faster and stronger the results. Examples such as the Human Genome Project illustrate the power of collaboration and information sharing in the scientific community. Red Hat is delighted for the opportunity to collaborate with the world-class minds at the North Carolina Research Campus and UNC system.

The biggest challenge for researchers interested in proving the benefits of new technologies in the future is to speed the whole process up. We need to know what works faster, better and cheaper than we could do so in the past. That means collecting data from more sources, not just in teaching hospitals as part of federally funded clinical trials, but in all settings where new technologies are being used, private practices, health departments, health education centers and walk-in clinics, said Etta Pisano, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Kenan Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering at the UNC Biomedical Research Imaging Center.

I believe that the best tool to link such widely different settings with widely different technology needs will be open source software. Such software will allow healthcare providers in multiple locations to share clinical data more effectively, more quickly and at a lower cost, while not sacrificing patient privacy, Dr. Pisano continued.

Science seeks solutions to the challenges that confront humanity. The research campus seeks solutions to the challenges that confront science. Partnerships such as the UNC system collaborating with Red Hat will bring those solutions more quickly, said Mr. David H. Murdock, owner and chairman, Dole Food Company, Inc. and Castle & Cooke, Inc.

The North Carolina Research Center is a 350-acre research campus in Kannapolis. The facility will conduct research to improve the world's health and well-being. The Center will focus on keeping the state of North Carolina a leader in the life sciences industry.