Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute – Coordinator Institution –

1. Information Management and Biodiversity Research – The Role of the Biodiversity Information System of Colombia Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute – Coordinator Institution –

2. Contents • Context • A national alliance • Sharing biodiversity information • Quality and accesibility of data • Controlled vocabulary for researchers • Information for multiple purposes: research and decision making • Building and strenghting national capacities • Colombia, the region, the world • Intellectual Property Rights

3. An Overview to the Context in Information Sharing of Colombia • A scientific tradition of more than 200 years • Megadiversity • Biological collections, databases, publications • It means an enormous ammount of data and information • Strong environmental legislation • Complex institutional landscape: • Environmental authorities (policy and decision makers) • Science and technology system • Other sectors of society (both public and private)

4. Government research institutes Data Providers Universities and academic research centres NGOs Biological collections Scientific societies and networks Institutional Landscape Users National System of Protected Areas Regional and local environmental authorities Ministerio de Ambiente: National authority General public

5. Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute Created by Law 99/1993 Mission To promote, coordinate and make research that contributes to the knowledge, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in Colombia One of its functions The implementation of an information system, as a supporting tool for the National Biodiversity Inventory

6. Our strategy to implement the system To encourage alliances with agencies, researchers and authorities to build a National Information Network: Biodiversity Information System of Colombia

7. What are we doing? • Making available a broad range of information resources by providing tools to facilitate access, sharing and use of biodiversity data • These advances are being available nationally and internationally • How are we achieving this? • By promoting a cultural change towards the open sharing of data: • Confidence and transparency • Intellectual property rights (Creative Commons) • Clear rules and policies for data sharing • Distributed ownership (equal opportunities for contribution and participation)

8. SIB today – Our vision The Biodiversity Information System of Colombia (SiB) is anational alliancedeveloped to facilitatedata and information management. We seek to efficiently supportresearch, education and decision making processes related to knowledge, conservation and sustainableuse of the biodiversity of Colombia

9. Biological Characterizations • Protected Areas • Threatened species Conservation • Traditional knowledge and uses of biodiversity • Access to genetic resources • Design of policies and strategies Research and biodiversity information Information Needs • Decision Making • Policies • Research • Education Strategic information Products & Services Heterogenous data, for specific purposes Research processes

10. Data with a purpose: SiB Colombia and Biodiversity Research S+T NationalSystem National Environmental System/ Biodiversity • Research Processes • Research Institutes • Biological Collections • Universities • NGOs More than an Information Facility, SiB is a knowledge community: supporting not only research / decision making processes, but providing tools for the scientific community and the decision makers. We do that by strenghting the decision makers capacities in handling and using information, as well as the tools available

11. Data and Information Contents Information Products & Services Technological Infrastructure Strategy: Implementation Work Areas National capacity building Access to distributed information Available at present >>> Processing and analysis information tools

12. SYSTEM STAKEHOLDERS MEMBERSHIP SCHEMA General Public Coordinator InstitutionCoordinator Team Interested Groups SIB`s Director Committee Involved Stakeholders Advisory Members Information managers (owners) Sub-national and thematic Networks Metadata administrators Data administrators Multipliers Alliances as the base of Biodiversity Information management processes

13. SiB as a Reference Center: supporting biodiversity research and management Information Biological Uses Organisms Non-structured information Species use WhoHow Simple searcher Specimens Species Yoscua: Traditional uses and knowledge catalogue Distributed Searches Ocurrencies Terminology Biota Electronic Magazine Taxonomic Information Scientific Terminology Common terminology Thesauri Taxonomic Authority Files Taxonomic Authority Files Historia natural Context Methodologies CATÁLOGO de organismos Methods and Attributes Catalogue National Metadata Catalogue

14. Reference for Biodiversity Research and Management Information Biological Uses Organisms Non-structured information Species use WhoHow Specimens Species Ocurrencies Terminology Taxonomic Information Scientific Terminology Common terminology Thesauri Taxonomic Authority Files Historia natural Context Methodologies Methods and Attributes Catalogue

15. Archivos de autoridad taxonómica, Tesauro, Catálogo de métodos y atributos(en funcionamiento desde 2003-2004)

16. Reference for Biodiversity Research and Management Information Biological Uses Organisms Non-structured information Species use WhoHow Specimens Species Ocurrencies Terminology Taxonomic Information Scientific Terminology Common terminology Historia natural Context Methodologies National Metadata Catalogue

17. National BiodiversityMetadata Catalogue (Context information for data sets on biodiversity) Cataloguing Tool Searches on SIB portal

18. Amazonia Node (Sinchi + partners ) National Network on Biodiversity and Environmental Metadata Caribe Node (Invemar) Andes Corpochivor Node Pacific Node (IIAP) National Catalogue SIB Col Orinoquia Node (CAR2 + partners )

19. Reference for Biodiversity Research and Management Information Biological Uses Organisms Non-structured information Species use WhoHow Simple searcher Specimens Species Yoscua: Traditional uses and knowledge catalogue Distributed Searches Ocurrencies Terminology Biota Electronic Magazine Taxonomic Information Scientific Terminology Common terminology Taxonomic Authority Files Historia natural Context Methodologies CATÁLOGO de organismos

20. Distributed Searches • Basic Data • Real time searches • Remote – Distributed Access • Data property and custody • Data and Metadata • More than 1Million Data (since june 2006)

21. Species of Colombia – On-line Catalogue - YOSCUA: Uses and traditional knowledge about species (Wiki)

22. Some Cases of Use

23. Ministry of Environment Biotrade Colombia and Biodiversity Information System of Colombia at Humboldt Institute On-line information service: species of Colombia with commercial potential

24. Ministry of Environment Biodiversity Information System of Colombia at Humboldt Institute Risk analysis tool for supporting decision making on GMO

25. National Environmental Authority Biodiversity Information System of Colombia at Humboldt Institute A tool for mobilising heterogeneous datasets in a distributed environment based on the use of controlled vocabularies Benavides & Aguía, 2006

26. Creative Commons slide