National Biodiversity Data Centers: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract
In recent years, a number of national biodiversity data centers have been established with the aim of providing services for data storage, data capture and management as well as integration, evaluation and publication. Examples are “Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur für Biodiversität” (NFDI4Biodiversity) in Germany, “Pôle National de données de biodiversité” (PNDB) in France and the “Swedish Biodiversity Data Infrastructure” (SBDI). In addition to offering specific data services of their own, national data centers can provide an important role in linking international information infrastructures to local research processes and in communicating biodiversity informatics standards, such as those being developed in the context of TDWG Biodiversity Information Standards. Beside offering the technical services to store, analyze and publish research data, national data centers also provide support for the creation of research data management plans and thus enable the consideration of proper data processing already in the preparation phase of projects. The symposium will provide a platform to present national and regional data centers in biodiversity research. Important aspects are their integration in and complementarity from international initiatives and infrastructures, possibilities of cooperation among each other as well as organizational and technical challenges in implementation.

Session Organizers
Katja Luther, Center for Biodiversity Informatics and Collection Data Integration, Botanic Garden Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, k.luther@bo.berlin
Anton Güntsch, Center for Biodiversity Informatics and Collection Data Integration, Botanic Garden Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, a.guentsch@bo.berlin.