With Beacon v2.0 now widely deployed and refined through ongoing Scout efforts (including variant query expansions, filter logic improvements, and aggregation strategies), the community is actively discussing the path to Beacon v3.0. Recent GitHub threads highlight priorities such as deeper integration with VRS and Cat-VRS for complex variants, enhanced network and federation responses, advanced logical operators and filtering, improved handover mechanisms, and support for emerging data types (e.g. imaging or multi-omics extensions).

This interactive session invites Beacon implementers, Driver Project representatives, and newcomers to collaboratively define v3.0 novelties. Through whiteboard brainstorming, mini-prototyping exercises, and structured feedback rounds, we will map real-world challenges (e.g. structural variant fuzziness, privacy-preserving aggregation, cross-standard alignment) to proposed features. The goal is to produce actionable recommendations for the Beacon team, foster cross-Work-Stream synergies (e.g. with GKS for variation specifications and Clin/Pheno for phenotypes), and promote inclusive input from diverse regions and underrepresented voices — advancing GA4GH priorities in implementation (prototyping v3.0 ideas), engagement (broad community involvement), and integration (with VRS, Phenopackets, etc.). By session end, participants will contribute to a community roadmap for Beacon v3.0, helping ensure the protocol evolves to meet urgent needs in federated genomic data discovery.