NetCapDB: measuring bioinformatics capacity development in Africa

Abstract Background The National Institutes of Health (USA) has committed 5Â years of funding to the Bioinformatics Network of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa initiative. This pan-African network aims to develop capacity for bioinformatics research, in order to provide support to human health genomics research programs ongoing on the continent. Over the 5Â years of funding, it is imperative to track changes in bioinformatics capacity at the funded centres and to document how the funding has translated into capacity development during this time frame. Results The Network capacity database, NetCapDB, is a relational database that captures quantitative metrics for bioinformatics capacity, and tracks the changes in these metrics over time. A graphical user interface allows for straight-forward, browser-based data entry by users across Africa; and for visual and graph-based exploration of captured data. A reporting interface allows for semi-automated generation of standardized reports for monitoring and evaluation purposes.