In today's skills-based economy, professional success depends on demonstrating measurable competencies rather than relying on static job titles. A competency-based approach provides a structured ""common language"" that clarifies career paths and helps organisations build resilient teams through better role definition and targeted development.
The Competency Hub from EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) is a specialised web infrastructure designed to operationalise these frameworks. As a centralised, open-access repository, it empowers users to assess their attributes (KSAs/KSBs) against recognised frameworks, explore professional personas, and identify training resources mapped to specific skills gaps.
Access to such a repository is critical in biomedical data science, where the convergence of biology, medicine, and computation requires a highly adaptable workforce. The Hub's utility is demonstrated by the Advancing Biomedical Data Science Careers (ABDC) project led by The Alan Turing Institute and EMBL-EBI. We're utilising the Hub to host a comprehensive competency mapping that synthesises existing frameworks to identify 12 Minimum Standard Requirements and specific personas. Following this mapping, a gap analysis will identify training needs to be reflected in the Hub.
Furthermore, the Hub supports granular professional extensions, such as the recently published career pathway for bioinformatics core facility scientists, serving as a blueprint for other specialists, such as biocurators. By hosting these outputs, the Competency Hub translates complex ecosystem analyses into practical, live templates for organisations to standardise roles and support inclusive workforces. Additionally, we developed the ""10 Simple Rules for producing FAIR competency frameworks"" to foster a connected global training ecosystem.

Co-authors: Kim Gurwitz, Catherine Brooksbank, Vera Matser, Denise Bianco, Giulia Tomba, Emma Karoune