Selecting a Laboratory Information System for Biobanks in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Biobanks in low-and middle-income countries need significant infrastructural support to meet ISBER Best Practices to support population-based genomics research. ISBER recommends a Biobank information management system that can manage workflows from biospecimen receipt to distribution. The H3Africa Initiative was set out to develop regional African Biobanks where Uganda, Nigeria, and South Africa were successfully awarded grants to develop state-of-the-art Biobanks. In this chapter, we review the African experiences, processes, and recommendations for information management systems for use in the low-and middle-income country context. We provide a balanced basis on which institutions can deliberate their decision between an out-of-the-box service and a commercial enterprise.