In a world awashed by information, putting research data into context is more and more challenging. The characterization laboratory makes no exception: we present new ideas to acquire and correlate the information coming from different scales, sources, users and even facilities in an effective and efficient way.

In this symposium we will present a new software platform for Connected Microscopy, the evolution of Image Analysis from threshold segmentation to the newest Deep Learning algorithm, and new solutions for management of Academic Laboratories and Core Facilities, both for instrumentation, support and handling of large amount of data.