Well, 2021 has arrived and it is a year that is going to bring a lot of exciting changes in the world of EDGE. As you all know, we are in the process of building the next version of EDGE, (version 3!!!) and we aim to have this completed, tested and ready to release at the end of this year. We cannot be too specific with dates at the moment, however as soon as we are able to we will be let you know.
It’s important that we release the new version, both for an update to the user interface to keep pace with modern technology, but also to allow us to update the back end of the system, the part which none of you will see, but the part which is critical to integrating to other systems and becoming part of a bigger ecosystem.
We will certainly try and pack in as many new functions as possible before release, however we won’t delay the release to put in new features, it makes more sense to release a new version with all the core functions of EDGE 2, and then build upon those with the new technologies we have available. There’s no point in us keeping the shiny new version under wraps for longer than we need to, we want to get it out there for everyone to use!
New functions in a system are always good, but whilst we wait for EDGE 3 to be built, I often ask myself the question ‘what more can we do with what we already have?’. I think the answer is a lot, and so I want to spend a good part of the next few months looking at those opportunities like remote monitoring, e-TMF and e-ISF, expanded use of electronic delegation logs and more. There is a huge opportunity in these areas, and to be able to use something you’ve already got makes a lot of sense, so watch this space.
I’d like to take the opportunity to congratulate a colleague that we know well here in Southampton, Dr Matt Westmore, who is moving from his role as the Director of the Wessex Institute to become the Chief Executive of the HRA. We’ve worked with Matt closely over the years and know that he will be a huge success in his new role.
Lastly, I want to thank the whole team here at CIRU for their continued dedication to delivering EDGE globally and genuinely striving to make a difference in research. A well-deserved thanks to all of our EDGE users is also due, especially now EDGE has over 6 million patients recorded on the system and that doesn’t happen overnight or by accident. It’s been nearly 2 decades of hard work and I think that deserves some recognition.
To everyone reading this, and even those that aren’t, I hope you have a great start to 2021.
