Dear SCDM Friends,

As we begin this new year, we look forward to life continuing to get back to a better “new normal.” In the spirit of a better “new,” SCDM is transforming to lead our profession into the future.

The SCDM Board of Trustees and Executive Committee are excited to launch the 2023-2025 Strategic Plan, with a new vision and mission. A reorganization of the committee structure will focus on 3 priorities: education and certification, thought leadership, and partnerships of value. These priorities are supported through our new vision: To contribute to a healthier world through clinical data science and our new mission: Accelerate the development of preventative and curative medical interventions through leading the clinical data science profession. Our education, best practices and certification programs prepare both our industry and our professionals for the evolution of the management of health data. We engage and partner with policy makers, regulators, patient organizations and other key stakeholders for a healthier world.

To enable the vision and mission as well as the SCDM priorities we need reorganized committees, a strengthened and content rich marketing approach and, most-importantly, you: our volunteers. This is our call-to-action: volunteer! Review the new committee structure and consider your participation. Your subject-matter expertise can impact the future of our clinical data profession!

EMEA
Coming up on April 26-28 in Gothenburg, Sweden, this year’s EMEA Conference will feature cutting edge content that will raise the bar of excellence in the profession, embracing cross-functional strategies to define How We Work Together – in the future.

Annual Conference
We are excited that planning is underway for the Annual Conference, October 8-11 in San Diego, California. The planning committee is working hard to create an exciting program with innovative content. Keep an eye out for more information for the call for speaker abstracts as well as details of the conference over the coming weeks. We look forward to seeing you in San Diego to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the SCDM Annual Conference!

Regional Events
Watch your inboxes, social media, and the website closely for regional events, as we expand our global presence to diverse audiences. We are coming to a region near you and invite you to be a part of it!

Education and Certification
The revamping of our educational content will raise existing content to an enhanced standard and layer in new content from our recent conferences and published papers. This will be the cornerstone of our educational offerings which will be the foundation for our certifications: a planned launch of CCDA (Data Associate) certification, a CCDM (Data Manager) certification and a new CCDS (Data Scientist) certification. Together, with our global expansion, we look to invite students into our membership, offering a CCDA certification to prime them for launch in a career in Clinical Data Sciences.

Regulatory Council
One of our most popular sessions at the Annual Conference has always been the Regulatory Panel. Broadening this concept is the development and launch of the Regulatory Council – a cooperative relationship between regulators and SCDM to understand each other’s needs and work to progress the advancement of Clinical Data Science within current and developing regulations for the benefit of global health care.

Volunteer
There is so much more I could write here – but alas, my space is limited. I invite you to reach out, volunteer and get involved. Our transformation relies on YOUR active participation. Register as a volunteer to help advance our organization and be a part of SCDM leading our profession into the future!

On behalf of the SCDM Executive Committee and Board of Trustees, thank you for being a part of SCDM and we look forward to your participation in being a part of the exciting future of our industry!

Carol Schaffer
Secretary, SCDM Board of Trustees