A new cross-cutting summary report is now available summarizing discussions from the six virtual listening sessions hosted by the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN), in collaboration with the American Institute of Biological Sciences, as part of the National Science Foundation-funded project, Building an Integrated, Open, Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (BIOFAIR) Data Network.
During the summer of 2024, the project’s steering committee in collaboration with key domain representatives convened stakeholders from across the spectrum of biodiversity, ecological, and environmental data providers, curators, and users to explore the initiation of a comprehensive biological and environmental data network through the creation of a collaborative and accessible partnership. The wide range of perspectives shared during the Listening Sessions are documented in the individual session summaries accessible through the links below.
- Federal agencies (June 14)
- Genetic and genomic data (June 26)
- One Health (July 2)
- Ecological data (July 12)
- Climate and environmental data (July 26)
- Biodiversity informatics (August 26)
The new summary report, available below, focuses on the areas of unity across the six virtual Listening Sessions. It enumerates the various barriers to data integration and offers recommendations to overcome these challenges. We welcome further input on this report and the BIOFAIR Data Network initiative. Please share your comments either via the comment section at the bottom of this page or via email to bcon@aibs.org.
Read the Listening Session Summary Report.
Training for data providers is also critical! Many biologists are self-taught in data management. Even if they want to share data, they may not be able to because their data lack standardization or metadata. Those small datasets in the “long tail” are very difficult to integrate if they were never created and stored with best practices in mind. Basic training in data management that is not specific to any data standard or data sharing platform could help create a larger network of data providers who are equipped to interact with all kinds of emerging data resources. Dedicated database managers would also be a huge asset in our everyday long tail projects.