In July 2018, GBIF and partner organisations convened the second Global Biodiversity Informatics Conference (GBIC2) in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the term of the conference, participants called for the establishment of a global alliance for biodiversity knowledge that would align the global efforts to deliver current, accurate and comprehensive data, information and knowledge on the world’s biodiversity. More specifically, the ambitions of the alliance are support for (1) science and evidence-based planning, (2) open data and open science, (3) highly connected biodiversity data, and (4) international collaboration.
Earlier this year, the GBIC2 steering committee and members of the GBIF Secretariat published the conclusions of the meeting (*) including the shared vision for the alliance as well as the next steps towards its development. These steps include:
- Expanding the engagement
- Evaluating models for the alliance
- Clarifying the scope and target outcomes
- Mapping stakeholders
- Adopting proof-of-concept projects
The alliance is open to all institutions, agencies, organisations, researchers and communities working to measure and monitor biodiversity or dependent on accurate information on biodiversity. By joining forces, every stakeholder will benefit from free and open access to the best possible evidence to address questions at all scales.
For more information on the alliance, the call to action and how to join the discussion, visit: https://www.biodiversityinformatics.org/
(*) Hobern D, Baptiste B, Copas K, Guralnick R, Hahn A, van Huis E, Kim E, McGeoch M, Naicker I, Navarro L, Noesgaard D, Price M, Rodrigues A, Schigel D, Sheffield C, Wieczorek J (2019) Connecting data and expertise: a new alliance for biodiversity knowledge. Biodiversity Data Journal 7: e33679. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.7.e33679