News

Issue #2, 2004.11.01

GBIF Science Committee Seeks Nominations for 2005 Ebbe Nielsen Prize
The Ebbe Nielsen Prize is offered yearly by the GBIF Governing Board for innovation in combining biodiversity informatics and biosystematics research. For the 2005 competition, the guidelines for nominations have been somewhat expanded. The Prize is no longer restricted to researchers in the early stages of a career (although this is still preferred), and for the first time, small teams of researchers are eligible to be nominated for the one prize. Nominations are due at the Secretariat by 15 December 2004.

Work Programme for 2005 - 2006 Has New Features
At GB9, GBIF's Governing Board approved a Work Programme that spans two years rather than one, four themes rather than three, and some other refinements over the Programmes of previous years. These changes are described in this article. The full Work Programme documents can be reached by clicking here.

Previously, GBIF's Work Programmes have been for a single year. Now, the Secretariat has constructed a two-year Work Programme for the following reasons:
1. The experience we have gleaned from the two previous Work Programmes makes it feasible to plan farther ahead. Previously, GBIF was on a steep learning curve, but now we are able to better predict what activities will be needed for the next two years.
2. Taking a two-year perspective provides greater efficiency in, for example, crafting future seed-money competitions (see further explanation below).
3. The current GBIF Memorandum of Understanding expires at the end of 2006. Since we do not currently know the fate of GBIF after the end of the current MOU, we must carefully plan our expenditures for the next two years so that we neither have a deficit nor significant unspent funds when the MOU expires.

In February 2004, GBIF attained a significant milestone by opening the GBIF prototype data portal to the general public. As a result, GBIF now has a highly visible "product" to provide to the world. As of 1 November 2004, the prototype data portal is serving more than 44 million specimen and observation records from nearly 90 data providers, as well as 600,000 scientific names from about 20 names providers.

The Work Programme for 2005-2006 is intended to allow GBIF to build on the prototype portal by improving its user interface and functioning, developing links to new kinds of data, establishing or improving standards and protocols, and increasing the data content accessible through the portal. It also provides for the development of a system of globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) for biodiversity data, in concert with partner organisations. Further, it encompasses the initial activities that look toward adding the "SpeciesBank" programme to GBIF, should there be a new MoU after 2006.

This Work Programme also lays the groundwork for GBIF to continue to expand its membership to include a wider range of organisations and countries and, most importantly, to provide logistical support to the Participant nodes, which are the lifeblood of GBIF. Finally, the Work Programme continues to develop robust training and outreach activities.

The 2005-2006 Work Programme is structured around integrating themes. We have retained the three themes from 2004:
1. Nodes and GBIF Network Implementation: Developing the GBIF network, including the Participant Nodes, to implement the basic architecture and standards identified in 2003 and 2004.
2. Digital Biodiversity Science: Establishing the foundations for carrying out scientific activity in a fully digital environment.
3. Furthering Participation, Impact and Benefits of GBIF: Considering how GBIF can realise its potential to support the widest possible community.

In response to requests from several Participants, in the 2005-2006 Work Programme we have clustered all the training and capacity building activities into a fourth theme:
4. Training and Capacity Building in Biodiversity Informatics: Providing training activities, tools and mechanisms that will allow GBIF Participants, data providers and users to actively participate in and fully benefit from GBIF.

The DIGIT and ECAT programmes both plan to continue making seed-money awards in the 2005-2006 Work Programme. However, to maximise the effect of the spending and to minimise administrative costs, they will hold a single competition in this two-year period, and combine the funds from the two years. DIGIT plans to make approximately seven awards of USD 100,000 each to international consortia of institutions working to digitise very large numbers of records for targeted taxa. ECAT proposes to make approximately ten awards of USD 50,000 each, again focused on priority taxa.

For the 2003 and 2004 Work Programmes, GBIF was able to capitalise on relatively large unspent funds from the previous year's budgets. However, it is not likely that there will be any significant amount of unspent funds at the end of 2004 or 2005. Therefore, the amount spent on the Work Programme will have to be reduced. We have budgeted USD 1.5 million for the Work Programme in 2005 and an equal amount in 2006. In addition, the Secretariat will spend at least an additional USD 1.5 million per year from its operating funds to implement the Work Programme.

GBIF Working to Provide Liaison Officer to Participant Nodes
The original staffing plan for GBIF did not contemplate the need for a staff member in the Secretariat to focus on the development and oversight of Participant nodes. However, experience during the last two years has made it clear that a Nodes staff member is definitely needed.

On several occasions, the Nodes Committee has emphasised that there are several issues and challenges faced by Node managers in setting up and operating their nodes. In addition, they have stated that one of the major obstacles is motivating and coordinating data providers. The NODES Committee has taken steps to form a mentoring scheme among the GBIF Nodes. The Node Managers who are willing to mentor others have been listed, and the call has gone out for those Nodes that need assistance to apply for mentor(s).

However, Node Managers and the Nodes Committee have repeatedly asked for more help from the Secretariat to overcome these hurdles, and at the recent Science Planning Meeting in Oaxaca NODES explicitly requested that GBIF appoint an individual in the Secretariat whose tasks and responsibilities would focus on providing much needed support to the Nodes.

At the present time, Nodes coordination in the Secretariat is mainly the responsibility of the DADI programme officer, with the Deputy Director for Informatics also acting as a liaison. However, as the ICT aspects of GBIF remain under intensive development, these individuals have had to devote the bulk of their time to these activities, and Nodes coordination has not been as effective as desired or expected.

To help to help address the Nodes' needs, the Governing Board has approved that a position of Nodes Liaison Officer be established in the GBIF Secretariat. The individual will be recruited by the Secretariat, and will reside in Copenhagen. Information about the selection process will appear soon on the GBIF Communications Portal.

The Nodes Liaison Officer will undertake the following tasks:
1. Provide follow-up services when a new GBIF Participant joins, helping the Participant to take the right steps in setting up a node and establishing a data provider network.
2. Set up a regular reporting scheme for the Nodes and closely monitor the activities of the Nodes.
3. Advise the Nodes in overcoming obstacles and challenges in such areas as overall planning and organisation, promoting the involvement of the scientific community, attaining greater financial support from governmental and other funding agencies, achieving greater visibility and recognition, and providing advice on technical matters and IPR considerations. As appropriate, make a schedule of country visits based on identified needs.
4. Advise on best practices for Nodes and aid in the development of a best practices handbook and related web site for Participant Nodes.
5. Contribute to and participate in the GBIF training programme.
6. Be the main contact point in the Secretariat for the Nodes Committee and provide overall support to the NODES Chair and Vice Chairs.
7. Together with the Nodes Committee, propose effective mechanisms to address and implement the GBIF Work Programme in a timely manner and in a cost-effective way.

The Nodes Liaison Officer will ideally have the following qualifications:
1. Experience in coordinating scientific projects and promoting collaborative endeavours.
2. Management and negotiation skills.
3. Good knowledge of information technology.
4. Good language and communication skills. Fluency in language(s) other than English would be an asset.
5. Willingness to travel.

The Secretariat will undertake the recruitment, via an open search with an emphasis on finding an individual from a current GBIF Participant, and provide work space, computers, and communications equipment. The intent is to have the successful applicant move to Copenhagen early in 2005, and serve through the remaining duration of the current Memorandum of Understanding (through December 2006).

GBIF Governing Board Completes Successful Meeting in New Zealand
The ninth meeting of the GBIF Governing Board was held the week of 4 October in Wellington, at the internationally acclaimed Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. The reports of the external review team and the Executive Secretary were positive, and showed that GBIF staff and participants have been working very hard and very successfully toward making biodiversity data widely available via the Internet. The meeting was attended by representatives of 38 of GBIF's participants. Also present were observers from 9 Asian and Pacific island nations. Minutes and documents from the meeting will be available on CIRCA. GBIF and the Index Fungorum Partnership Sign MoC
On 18 August 2004, Jim Edwards (Executive Secretary of GBIF) and officials of the institutions that partner to compile Index Fungorum signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC). The purpose of this MoC is to establish a framework through which fungal names data compiled and maintained by the Index Fungorum Partnership (IFP) can be used in building up the GBIF biodiversity network.

Explore the results of the 2003 demonstration project
GBIF commissioned the development of a demonstration about how GBIF-type data can be put to use by people in different walks of life. Two GBIF Demonstration Projects Underway in 2004
The 2004 proposals for GBIF Demonstration Projects were so good that two were chosen, rather than one. Both will provide tools for integrating GBIF data into conservation planning and biogeographic analysis.

GBIF Alter-ego WBIF Featured in Danish Donald Duck Cartoon
Donald Duck (A.K.A. "Anders And" in Denmark) pays a visit to the "World Biological Information Facility" to get information about supernatural creatures in the most recent issue of Disney's "Jumbobog" (Jumbo Book) of comics. GBIF Presentations Now Available Online
Did you miss the GBIF Science Symposium? You can now see the PowerPoint presentations here on the portal. In the left-hand menu on this portal, under "About GBIF", click on "GBIF Symposia". You will be taken to a page that lists the presentations available, and where possible, the program for the symposium.

Germany Becomes Fourth-Largest GBIF Data Provider
With the GBIF registration of 2.75 million records from FloraWeb, Germany becomes the GBIF Participant that is providing the fourth-largest number of apecies occurrence data records to GBIF. Costa Rican Node Awarded Prestigious Prize
The Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad de Costa Rica (INBio) has received the Augusto González de Linares environmental prize, awarded by the University of Cantabria and the Consejería de Medio Ambiente del Gobierno. The prize includes a monetary award of €18,000.

GBIF Seed Money Project Results Come On Line
Over 145,000 data records for plant specimens collected in Papua New Guinea are now available via the GBIF portal as a result of a 2003 seed money award. GBIF Undergoing Independent Review
“In the third year, an independent review of [GBIF’s] operations, financial mechanisms, legal basis, governance structure, and links to other organisations will be conducted to determine if any changes are needed. The lessons learned will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the governance structure and to recommend any necessary changes.” (GBIF MoU, Paragraph 11.2)

Articles and Documents of Interest

Reports from the GBIF Experts' Meeting on IPR
Both the white paper commissioned by GBIF on IPR in preparation for the Experts' Meeting on biodiversity data, databases and property rights issues, and the final report on the meeting itself are available from the GBIF communications portal. Data Sharing with Countries of Origin
A report commissioned by GBIF and prepared by CRIA is now available. It presents the experiences of primarily developed-world institutions in the process of sharing data with countries of origin of specimens the institutions house.

New GBIF Literature Materials Available
The new documents are A4 size and can be inserted in the GBIF Brochure. You can access them online by clicking on "Important Documents" under "About GBIF". There, you will find Who Are GBIF's Users?, The GBIF Work Programme, The GBIF Strategic Plan, The GBIF Supplementary Fund, and Quick Guide to GBIF Biodiversity Informatics. GBIF Biodiversity Data Architecture
This is a more in-depth explanation of GBIF biodiversity informatics, from which the "Quick Guide to GBIF Biodiversity Informatics" was abstracted. Both were written by Donald Hobern, GBIF Programme Officer for Data Access and Database Interoperability.

Meetings

International Conference on Marine Biodiversity Data Management
Hamburg, Germany, 29 Nov - 1 Dec 2004. Biodiversity : Science and Governance
International conference under the high patronage of Mr Jacques Chirac, President of the French Republic, and Mr Koïchiro Matsuura -director-general of UNESCO. Paris, France, 24 - 28 January 2005

International Conference for the Barcoding of Life
London, England, 6 - 8 Feb 2005. Databasing Herbaria: Challenges and Solutions
Chania, Greece, 20 - 22 Jan 2005.

GBIF Governing Board 10th Meeting
Will include the Third GBIF Science Symposium, and discussion of the Report from the independent review of GBIF. Brussels, Belgium, 18 - 22 April 2005

GBIF News will be issued on an approximately quarterly basis by the Secretariat.

GBIF Governing Board Completes Successful Meeting in New Zealand The ninth meeting of the GBIF Governing Board was held the week of 4 October in Wellington, at the internationally acclaimed Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. The reports of the external review team and the Executive Secretary were positive, and showed that GBIF staff and participants have been working very hard and very successfully toward making biodiversity data widely available via the Internet. The meeting was attended by representatives of 38 of GBIF's participants. Also present were observers from 9 Asian and Pacific island nations. Minutes and documents from the meeting will be available on CIRCA.	GBIF and the Index Fungorum Partnership Sign MoC On 18 August 2004, Jim Edwards (Executive Secretary of GBIF) and officials of the institutions that partner to compile Index Fungorum signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC). The purpose of this MoC is to establish a framework through which fungal names data compiled and maintained by the Index Fungorum Partnership (IFP) can be used in building up the GBIF biodiversity network.
Explore the results of the 2003 demonstration project GBIF commissioned the development of a demonstration about how GBIF-type data can be put to use by people in different walks of life.	Two GBIF Demonstration Projects Underway in 2004 The 2004 proposals for GBIF Demonstration Projects were so good that two were chosen, rather than one. Both will provide tools for integrating GBIF data into conservation planning and biogeographic analysis.
GBIF Alter-ego WBIF Featured in Danish Donald Duck Cartoon Donald Duck (A.K.A. "Anders And" in Denmark) pays a visit to the "World Biological Information Facility" to get information about supernatural creatures in the most recent issue of Disney's "Jumbobog" (Jumbo Book) of comics.	GBIF Presentations Now Available Online Did you miss the GBIF Science Symposium? You can now see the PowerPoint presentations here on the portal. In the left-hand menu on this portal, under "About GBIF", click on "GBIF Symposia". You will be taken to a page that lists the presentations available, and where possible, the program for the symposium.
Germany Becomes Fourth-Largest GBIF Data Provider With the GBIF registration of 2.75 million records from FloraWeb, Germany becomes the GBIF Participant that is providing the fourth-largest number of apecies occurrence data records to GBIF.	Costa Rican Node Awarded Prestigious Prize The Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad de Costa Rica (INBio) has received the Augusto González de Linares environmental prize, awarded by the University of Cantabria and the Consejería de Medio Ambiente del Gobierno. The prize includes a monetary award of €18,000.
GBIF Seed Money Project Results Come On Line Over 145,000 data records for plant specimens collected in Papua New Guinea are now available via the GBIF portal as a result of a 2003 seed money award.	GBIF Undergoing Independent Review “In the third year, an independent review of [GBIF’s] operations, financial mechanisms, legal basis, governance structure, and links to other organisations will be conducted to determine if any changes are needed. The lessons learned will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the governance structure and to recommend any necessary changes.” (GBIF MoU, Paragraph 11.2)

Reports from the GBIF Experts' Meeting on IPR Both the white paper commissioned by GBIF on IPR in preparation for the Experts' Meeting on biodiversity data, databases and property rights issues, and the final report on the meeting itself are available from the GBIF communications portal.	Data Sharing with Countries of Origin A report commissioned by GBIF and prepared by CRIA is now available. It presents the experiences of primarily developed-world institutions in the process of sharing data with countries of origin of specimens the institutions house.
New GBIF Literature Materials Available The new documents are A4 size and can be inserted in the GBIF Brochure. You can access them online by clicking on "Important Documents" under "About GBIF". There, you will find Who Are GBIF's Users?, The GBIF Work Programme, The GBIF Strategic Plan, The GBIF Supplementary Fund, and Quick Guide to GBIF Biodiversity Informatics.	GBIF Biodiversity Data Architecture This is a more in-depth explanation of GBIF biodiversity informatics, from which the "Quick Guide to GBIF Biodiversity Informatics" was abstracted. Both were written by Donald Hobern, GBIF Programme Officer for Data Access and Database Interoperability.

International Conference on Marine Biodiversity Data Management Hamburg, Germany, 29 Nov - 1 Dec 2004.	Biodiversity : Science and Governance International conference under the high patronage of Mr Jacques Chirac, President of the French Republic, and Mr Koïchiro Matsuura -director-general of UNESCO. Paris, France, 24 - 28 January 2005
International Conference for the Barcoding of Life London, England, 6 - 8 Feb 2005.	Databasing Herbaria: Challenges and Solutions Chania, Greece, 20 - 22 Jan 2005.