The Darwin Core extension for genebanks opens up new opportunities for sharing genebank datasets

Darwin Core (DwC) defines a standard set of terms to describe the primary biodiversity data. Primary biodiversity data are data records derived from direct observation of species occurrences in nature or describing specimens in biological collections. The Darwin Core terms can be seen as an extension to the standard Dublin Core metadata terms. The new Darwin Core extension for genebanks declares the additional terms required for describing genebank datasets, and is based on established standards from the plant genetic resources community. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) provides an information infrastructure for biodiversity data including a suite of software tools for data publishing, distributed data access, and the capture of biodiversity data. The Darwin Core extension for genebanks is a key component that provides access for the genebanks and the plant genetic resources community to the GBIF informatics infrastructure including the new toolkits for data exchange. This paper provides one of the first examples and guidelines for how to create extensions to the Darwin Core standard

Nordic LifeWatch cooperation, final report: A joint initiative from Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden

The main goal of the present report is to outline the possibilities for an enhanced cooperation between the Nordic countries within eScience and biodiversity. LifeWatch is one of several ESFRI projects which aim to establish eInfrastructures and databases in the field of biodiversity and ecosystem research. Similarities between Nordic countries are extensive in relation to a number of biodiversity related issues. Most species in Nordic countries are common, and frequently the same challenges concerning biodiversity and ecosystem services are addressed in the different countries. The present report has been developed by establishing a Nordic LifeWatch network with delegates from each of the Nordic countries. The report has been written jointly by the delegates, and the work was organized by establishing working groups with the following themes: strategic issues, technical development, legal framework and communication. Written during two workshops, Skype meetings and emailing, the following main issues are discussed in the present report: * Scientific needs for improved access to biodiversity data and advanced eScience research infrastructure in the Nordic countries. * Future challenges and priorities facing the international biodiversity research community. * Scientific potential of openly accessible biodiversity and environmental data for individual researchers and institutions. * Spin-off effects of open access for the general public. * Internationally standardized Nordic metadata inventory. * Legal framework and challenges associated with environmental-, climate-, and biodiversity data sharing, communication, training and scientific needs. * Finally, some strategic steps towards realizing a Nordic LifeWatch construction and operational phase are discussed. Easy access to open data on biodiversity and the environment is crucial for many researchers and research institutions, as well as environmental administration. Easy access to data from different fields of science creates an environment for new scientific ideas to emerge. This potential of generating new, interdisciplinary approaches to pre-existing problems is one of the key features of open-access data platforms that unify diverse data sources. Interdisciplinary elements, access to data over larger gradients, compatible eSystems and eTools to handle large amounts of data are extremely important and, if further developed, represent significant steps towards analysis of biological effects of climate change, human impact and development of operational ecosystem service assessment techniques. It is concluded that significant benefits regarding both scientific potential, technical developments and financial investments can be obtained by constructing a common Nordic LifeWatch eInfrastructure. Several steps concerning organizing and funding of a future Nordic LifeWatch are discussed, and an action plan towards 2020 is suggested. To analyze the potential for future Nordic LifeWatch in detail, our main conclusion is to arrange a Nordic LifeWatch conference as soon as possible. This conference should involve Nordic research councils, scientists and relevant stakeholders. The national delegates from the participating countries in the Nordic LifeWatch project are prepared to present details from the report and developments so far as a basis for further development of Nordic LifeWatch. The present work is financed by NordForsk and in-kind contributions from participating institutions

Chapter 42: Information, knowledge and agricultural biodiversity

Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture include an estimated 7.4 million ex situ accessions conserved in genebank collections. An estimated 40% of these accessions are both electronically documented and freely available from online genebank data platforms such as Genesys (Alercia and Mackay, 2013; www.genesyspgr.org/) and EURISCO (FAO, 2010; Dias et al, 2011; http://eurisco.ipkgatersleben.de/). Approximately 21% of the world’s flora is classified as a crop wild relative and as such a potential gene donor for crops (Maxted and Kell, 2009). The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) (Telenius, 2011) integrates and provides extensive occurrence information about collection data, including genebank accessions ex situ and wild plants in situ, including many crop wild relatives. However, neither GBIF nor the genebank data portals focus on providing data on the molecular genetic diversity or conservation status of the collections. Some ex situ genebank accessions do provide associated measurement data from characterization and evaluation trials. However, the lack of easy access to experimental trait information online continues to be reported as a major limitation to the efficient use of plant genetic resources (FAO, 2010). Data on ex situ genebank collections, crop wild relative in situ populations, genetic data, and trait measurements are generally created and made available by different sub-groups of practitioners, and each sub-group has showed a tendency to develop its own documentation practices and data standards. This chapter will describe how knowledge organization principles can be used to create a more unified data landscape for agricultural biodiversity. It is concluded that the introduction of persistent and globally unique digital identifiers, resolvable to machine-readable information, and based on a standardized and formally declared data domain model is one of the fundamental first steps for an effective integration of agricultural biodiversity information (FAO, 2014). This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Routledge Handbook of Agricultural Biodiversity on 04.10.2017, available online: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Agricultural-Biodiversity/Hunter-Guarino-Spillane-McKeown/p/book/978041574692

Final Report of the Task Group on GBIF Data Fitness for Use in Agrobiodiversity

Human wellbeing and food security in a changing climate depend on productive and sustainable agriculture. For this, policies based on analyses and research results are vital to establish conservation priorities of natural resources that underpin the enhancement of sustainable food production. Therefore, data from agrobiodiversity and wider biodiversity sources are required to be available and accessible. Currently, there is a risk that agrobiodiversity and the wider biodiversity data communities remain separated with inefficient data aggregation, unless data flow pathways are harmonized. GBIF has a role to play in contributing to the convergence of the two communities. Biodiversity data in particular on wild relatives of the cultivated species will flow easier into agrobiodiversity conservation priority assessments and analysis with agrobiodiversity data integrated in GBIF. The Task Group on Data Fitness for Use in Agrobiodiversity was established by the GBIF Secretariat and Bioversity International to help improve the fit of data related to agrobiodiversity to the variety of important uses required and requested by the community of research and policy. The task group has been looking at the key actions for creating interoperability of data on ex situ, in situ and on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity, with a focus on plants. A survey and interviews of selected experts and ABD data practitioners were conducted to collect feedback on fitness for use and issues with GBIF-mediated data. The 53 recommendations of the task group cover the whole data flow, from publishing to data use with a focus on agrobiodiversity, also considering the role of nodes in data mobilization and in promotion and training. Some key recommendations are to (i) promote GBIF to the agrobiodiversity community, (ii) integrate the terms from the long-standing Multi Crop Passport Data standard (MCPD) already used for several decades by agricultural gene banks into Darwin Core indexed attributes, (iii) by installing proper governance, the Darwin Core germplasm extension can be maintained as a stable international standard, (iv) develop agrobiodiversity user profiles on GBIF data portal to improve the user experience in accessing data of interest, (v) add infraspecific taxonomy levels to ensure adequate publication of agrobiodiversity data, by means of integrating into the GBIF taxonomic backbone the reference taxonomies used by the community with additional attributes related to the crop wild relative species, landraces and cultivars, (vi) publish existing digitized ABD data collections, such as the Bioversity Collecting Mission database1 and the Crop Wild Relative Global Occurrence dataset2, to support capacity building of agrobiodiversity data publishers, (vii) provide quality filtering of the data only using attributes of interest to the agrobiodiversity data users. Additionally, GBIF needs to provide tools and services to discover, mobilize, or link to additional specialized data sources commonly used by the agrobiodiversity community. Integrated access from GBIF to external sources of key agrobiodiversity data would be an added value for the community. (viii) Assign a level of confidence to individual data records, and (ix) channel feedback to data suppliers. The task group identified increasing the knowledge of the nodes about agrobiodiversity data through training as a key step to enable them to play a more prominent role in the mobilization of locally available information resources on ABD. A priority setting of these recommendations, with the feedback of the ABD community, the GBIF country parties and the expert knowledge of the GBIF secretariat and nodes, is needed. Final version 1.0 published on 15 February 2016. http://www.gbif.org

Predictive characterization of crop wild relatives and landraces: Technical guidelines version 1

Predictive characterizationPredictive characterization methods use ecogeographical and climatic data derived from the specific location of a collecting or observation site, to predict characteristics of accessions and populations that can inform conservation and use options. The predictive characterization methods presented in these technical guidelines for crop wild relatives (CWR) and landraces (LR) aim to enhance the use of CWR and LR through identification of sets of accessions or occurrences that have a higher likelihood of harbouring genetic diversity for specific adaptive traits than a set selected at random. The methods presented are the ecogeographical filtering and the calibration method. These are two of the various methods that implement the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS). The guidelines were developed within the framework of the EU funded project PGR Secure ‘Novel characterization of crop wild relative and landrace resources as a basis for improved crop breeding’. Technical guidelines version 1, Bioversity International, Rome (Italy), ISBN 978-92-9255-004-2. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/index.php?id=244&tx_news_pi1[news]=4967&cHash=7cd3c6c2b8360927b83fa6ef7cc28d99 Publication at Bioversity International © Bioversity International 2014. Made available here with permission from Bioversity International

LifeWatch Norge. Sluttrapport fra forprosjektet

LifeWatch er et europeisk initiativ med langsiktig fokus på utvikling av vitenskapelig baserte e-løsninger for biodiversitets- og økosystemforskning. LifeWatch er en del av det europeiske veikartet for infrastrukturutvikling (ESFRI- European Strategy for Research Infrastructure), og kom inn på det norske veikartet for e-infrastrukturutvikling i 2010. NINA ble i 2008 invitert av Forskningsrådet til å følge utviklingen av det europeiske LifeWatch prosjektet (finansiert gjennom EU sitt 7. Rammeprogram for forskning og infrastrukturutbygging) og til å initiere et norsk LifeWatch forprosjekt. Forprosjektet ble formelt oppstartet i januar 2011 med finansiell støtte fra Forskningsrådet. Konsortiet har vært koordinert av NINA i tett samarbeid med Havforskningsinstituttet (HI), Artsdatabanken, Naturhistorisk Museum ved Universitetet i Oslo (norsk node i Global Biodiversity Information Facility) og Norsk institutt for vannforskning (NIVA). Forprosjektets hovedformål har vært å utrede muligheter og utfordringer knyttet til realisering av en norsk e-infrastruktur for fri deling av biodiversitets- og miljødata på tvers av institusjons- og landegrenser. Forprosjektet LifeWatch Norge er tett integrert med LifeWatch Europa gjennom NINA sin deltagelse i LifeWatch Preparatory Phase (2008-2010) og observatørstatus i styringsgruppen for LifeWatch Europa. Med finansiering fra NordForsk har LifeWatch konsortiene i Norge, Sverige, Danmark og Finland, i samarbeid med Islands Naturhistoriske Museum nylig startet opp et nordisk LifeWatch forprosjekt for å utrede muligheten for å realisere en nordisk e-forskningsinfrastruktur. På sikt vil et nordisk tyngdepunkt innen LifeWatch være strategisk viktig for de nordiske forskningsmiljøene. En nordisk overbygning vil kunne danne en felles grenseflate mellom nasjonale prosjekter og det europeiske nivå. Forprosjektet har kartlagt brukerbehov og metadata, samt foretatt en gjennomgang av de mest sentrale prinsipper, lover og retningslinjer knyttet til deling av offentlig finansierte miljø- og biodiversitetsdata. Videre er sentrale utfordringer, barrierer og rammevilkår for deling og tilgjengeliggjøring av offentlig finansierte forskningsdata drøftet. Utgangspunktet er at det i dag eksisterer store mengder relevante miljø- og biodiversitetsdata som av ulike årsaker er lite, eller overhodet ikke tilgjengelig for samfunnet. Konsortiet kommer på bakgrunn av dette med relevante anbefalinger og tiltak for realisering av en nasjonal e-infrastruktur for deling av offentlig finansierte miljø- og biodiversitetsdata. Dette omfatter utvikling av kontraktmaler, strategier og handlingsplaner for bedre dataforvaltning, kapasitetsbygging, utvikling av datamobiliseringsverktøy, samt evaluering av gjeldende rammevilkår og virkemiddelbruk rettet mot instituttsektoren. For å kunne realisere en operativ norsk LifeWatch e-infrastruktur må en tverrsektoriell forankring og organisering sikres. Vi anbefaler at nåværende LifeWatch-konsortium i samarbeid med Norges Forskningsråd arrangerer en interdepartemental LifeWatch konferanse innen Juni 2013 med relevante fagdepartement. Dette bør være første fase i utvidelsen av det nasjonale LifeWatch konsortiet, hvor hovedformålet bør være å klarlegge potensialet for merverdi og effektivisering for forskning og forvaltning. Forskningsrådet ønsker å styrke sin innsats for innovasjon i offentlig sektor og har derfor nylig startet arbeidet med strategiutvikling hvor grunntanken er å styrke kunnskapsflyten mellom forskning, næringsliv/industri og utdanningssektoren. Vi mener at en nasjonal LifeWatch e-forskningsinfrastruktur for miljø- og biodiversitetsdata generelt kan bidra til økt kvalitet, innovasjon og effektivitet innen forskningsmiljøene, samt økt anvendelse og politikkutforming innen næringsliv og offentlig forvaltning

LifeWatch Norge. Sluttrapport fra forprosjektet

LifeWatch er et europeisk initiativ med langsiktig fokus på utvikling av vitenskapelig baserte e-løsninger for biodiversitets- og økosystemforskning. LifeWatch er en del av det europeiske veikartet for infrastrukturutvikling (ESFRI- European Strategy for Research Infrastructure), og kom inn på det norske veikartet for e-infrastrukturutvikling i 2010. NINA ble i 2008 invitert av Forskningsrådet til å følge utviklingen av det europeiske LifeWatch prosjektet (finansiert gjennom EU sitt 7. Rammeprogram for forskning og infrastrukturutbygging) og til å initiere et norsk LifeWatch forprosjekt. Forprosjektet ble formelt oppstartet i januar 2011 med finansiell støtte fra Forskningsrådet. Konsortiet har vært koordinert av NINA i tett samarbeid med Havforskningsinstituttet (HI), Artsdatabanken, Naturhistorisk Museum ved Universitetet i Oslo (norsk node i Global Biodiversity Information Facility) og Norsk institutt for vannforskning (NIVA). Forprosjektets hovedformål har vært å utrede muligheter og utfordringer knyttet til realisering av en norsk e-infrastruktur for fri deling av biodiversitets- og miljødata på tvers av institusjons- og landegrenser. Forprosjektet LifeWatch Norge er tett integrert med LifeWatch Europa gjennom NINA sin deltagelse i LifeWatch Preparatory Phase (2008-2010) og observatørstatus i styringsgruppen for LifeWatch Europa. Med finansiering fra NordForsk har LifeWatch konsortiene i Norge, Sverige, Danmark og Finland, i samarbeid med Islands Naturhistoriske Museum nylig startet opp et nordisk LifeWatch forprosjekt for å utrede muligheten for å realisere en nordisk e-forskningsinfrastruktur. På sikt vil et nordisk tyngdepunkt innen LifeWatch være strategisk viktig for de nordiske forskningsmiljøene. En nordisk overbygning vil kunne danne en felles grenseflate mellom nasjonale prosjekter og det europeiske nivå. Forprosjektet har kartlagt brukerbehov og metadata, samt foretatt en gjennomgang av de mest sentrale prinsipper, lover og retningslinjer knyttet til deling av offentlig finansierte miljø- og biodiversitetsdata. Videre er sentrale utfordringer, barrierer og rammevilkår for deling og tilgjengeliggjøring av offentlig finansierte forskningsdata drøftet. Utgangspunktet er at det i dag eksisterer store mengder relevante miljø- og biodiversitetsdata som av ulike årsaker er lite, eller overhodet ikke tilgjengelig for samfunnet. Konsortiet kommer på bakgrunn av dette med relevante anbefalinger og tiltak for realisering av en nasjonal e-infrastruktur for deling av offentlig finansierte miljø- og biodiversitetsdata. Dette omfatter utvikling av kontraktmaler, strategier og handlingsplaner for bedre dataforvaltning, kapasitetsbygging, utvikling av datamobiliseringsverktøy, samt evaluering av gjeldende rammevilkår og virkemiddelbruk rettet mot instituttsektoren. For å kunne realisere en operativ norsk LifeWatch e-infrastruktur må en tverrsektoriell forankring og organisering sikres. Vi anbefaler at nåværende LifeWatch-konsortium i samarbeid med Norges Forskningsråd arrangerer en interdepartemental LifeWatch konferanse innen Juni 2013 med relevante fagdepartement. Dette bør være første fase i utvidelsen av det nasjonale LifeWatch konsortiet, hvor hovedformålet bør være å klarlegge potensialet for merverdi og effektivisering for forskning og forvaltning. Forskningsrådet ønsker å styrke sin innsats for innovasjon i offentlig sektor og har derfor nylig startet arbeidet med strategiutvikling hvor grunntanken er å styrke kunnskapsflyten mellom forskning, næringsliv/industri og utdanningssektoren. Vi mener at en nasjonal LifeWatch e-forskningsinfrastruktur for miljø- og biodiversitetsdata generelt kan bidra til økt kvalitet, innovasjon og effektivitet innen forskningsmiljøene, samt økt anvendelse og politikkutforming innen næringsliv og offentlig forvaltning.LifeWatch is a pan- European initiative with a long-term focus on the development of scientifically based e-solutions for biodiversity- and ecosystem research. LifeWatch is a part of the European roadmap for infrastructure development (ESFRI- European Strategy for Research Infrastructure), and came into the Norwegian roadmap for infrastructure development in 2010. NINA was in 2008 invited by the Research Council of Norway to follow the development in the European LifeWatch project (funded by the European FP7 program for research and einfrastructure development), and to initiate a Norwegian pilot project. The Norwegian LifeWatch pilot project was formally kicked-off in January 2011 with financial support from the Research Council of Norway. The national consortium has been coordinated by NINA in close cooperation with the Norwegian Institute on Marine Research (IMR), The Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC), the Norwegian Institute for Freshwater Research (NIVA) and the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo (which holds the Norwegian node in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility). The aim of this pilot project has been to investigate the possibilities and challenges related to the realization of a Norwegian e-infrastructure for free sharing of biodiversity and environmental data across institutional and national borders, The Norwegian LifeWatch pilot project is tightly integrated with LifeWatch Europe through the NINA participation in the European LifeWatch Preparatory Phase (2008-2010), and through the NINA observatory seat in the LifeWatch Board meetings. With financial support from NordForsk, the LifeWatch consortiums of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, together with the Icelandic Museum of Natural History recently initiated a Nordic LifeWatch pilot project to investigate the possibilities of realizing a Nordic research e-infrastructure. A strong Nordic cooperation within LifeWatch Europe could have a long-term strategic importance for Nordic research institutions. Also, the Nordic LifeWatch level could represent a common interface between the different national levels and the European level. The pilot project has mapped user needs and metadata, and considered the most relevant principles, laws and guidelines for sharing of public funded environmental and biodiversity data. Further on, main challenges, barriers, terms and conditions for sharing of public funded research data are considered. Today large amounts of relevant biodiversity data are only partly accessible for the public society. The Consortium addresses relevant recommendations and actions for the realization of a national infrastructure for sharing of public funded environmental and biodiversity data. This includes the development of contract templates, strategies and action plans for improved data management, capacity building, development of data mobilization tools, and an evaluation of current terms and conditions towards the research institute sector in Norway. An operative Norwegian LifeWatch infrastructure demands mandatory support from all relevant Ministries. We recommend that the current Norwegian LifeWatch Consortium in cooperation with the Research council of Norway organize a national inter-Ministerial LifeWatch conference within June 2013. This should be the first step towards extending the national LifeWatch Consortium. The main goal of this conference should be to investigate potential added values and how the research and management sector could benefit from these added values in terms of increased efficiency. The Research Council of Norway wants to increase its effort in public innovation and has therefore started to develop strategies on how to improve the flow of knowledge between research, industry and the educational sector. A national LifeWatch e-infrastructure for environmental and biodiversity data in general will contribute to increased quality, innovation and efficiency within these three sectors. At this stage it is hard to be specific on how a future national LifeWatch e-infrastructure should be organized. The specific needs for such an e-infrastructure should be scoped to satisfy the needs identified in this pre-project. Further on it is very important that this e-infrastructure will be sufficiently aligned with existing parallel initiatives at national, Nordic and international levels. The main components of a national LifeWatch e-infrastructure are established as a Distribution portal and an Analysis portal. The Distribution portal will be designed for users that want to search biodiversity data and link these with environmental data for further analysis in other tools. The Analysis portal will be designed for users that want WEB functionality for search, filtration, calculation, presentation, screen display and downloading. All involved data will be distributed online from the stakeholder’s primary databases using standardized WEB protocols and services. Concerning organization of a large scale LifeWatch project, the central support functions of LifeWatch Europe can guide and support a future national project. In addition, the Nordic LifeWatch cooperation and sharing of common experiences will be useful. It will be essential that the public management institutions actively participate in order to ensure the link between research and management when it comes to environmental data and long time series. The Norwegian LifeWatch Consortium recommends applying for funding from the Research Council of Norway for a large scale LifeWatch project as soon as possible. The next Infrastructure call will probably be in October 2014. Also the upcoming European program for Research and Innovation, HORIZON 2020 (to be started in 2014), could be an actual source of funding if the Norwegian consortium applies together with one or several other European partners such as for instance the Nordic countries.© Norsk institutt for naturforskning. Publikasjonen kan siteres fritt med kildeangivelse

LifeWatch Norge. Sluttrapport fra forprosjektet

LifeWatch er et europeisk initiativ med langsiktig fokus på utvikling av vitenskapelig baserte e-løsninger for biodiversitets- og økosystemforskning. LifeWatch er en del av det europeiske veikartet for infrastrukturutvikling (ESFRI- European Strategy for Research Infrastructure), og kom inn på det norske veikartet for e-infrastrukturutvikling i 2010. NINA ble i 2008 invitert av Forskningsrådet til å følge utviklingen av det europeiske LifeWatch prosjektet (finansiert gjennom EU sitt 7. Rammeprogram for forskning og infrastrukturutbygging) og til å initiere et norsk LifeWatch forprosjekt. Forprosjektet ble formelt oppstartet i januar 2011 med finansiell støtte fra Forskningsrådet. Konsortiet har vært koordinert av NINA i tett samarbeid med Havforskningsinstituttet (HI), Artsdatabanken, Naturhistorisk Museum ved Universitetet i Oslo (norsk node i Global Biodiversity Information Facility) og Norsk institutt for vannforskning (NIVA). Forprosjektets hovedformål har vært å utrede muligheter og utfordringer knyttet til realisering av en norsk e-infrastruktur for fri deling av biodiversitets- og miljødata på tvers av institusjons- og landegrenser. Forprosjektet LifeWatch Norge er tett integrert med LifeWatch Europa gjennom NINA sin deltagelse i LifeWatch Preparatory Phase (2008-2010) og observatørstatus i styringsgruppen for LifeWatch Europa. Med finansiering fra NordForsk har LifeWatch konsortiene i Norge, Sverige, Danmark og Finland, i samarbeid med Islands Naturhistoriske Museum nylig startet opp et nordisk LifeWatch forprosjekt for å utrede muligheten for å realisere en nordisk e-forskningsinfrastruktur. På sikt vil et nordisk tyngdepunkt innen LifeWatch være strategisk viktig for de nordiske forskningsmiljøene. En nordisk overbygning vil kunne danne en felles grenseflate mellom nasjonale prosjekter og det europeiske nivå. Forprosjektet har kartlagt brukerbehov og metadata, samt foretatt en gjennomgang av de mest sentrale prinsipper, lover og retningslinjer knyttet til deling av offentlig finansierte miljø- og biodiversitetsdata. Videre er sentrale utfordringer, barrierer og rammevilkår for deling og tilgjengeliggjøring av offentlig finansierte forskningsdata drøftet. Utgangspunktet er at det i dag eksisterer store mengder relevante miljø- og biodiversitetsdata som av ulike årsaker er lite, eller overhodet ikke tilgjengelig for samfunnet. Konsortiet kommer på bakgrunn av dette med relevante anbefalinger og tiltak for realisering av en nasjonal e-infrastruktur for deling av offentlig finansierte miljø- og biodiversitetsdata. Dette omfatter utvikling av kontraktmaler, strategier og handlingsplaner for bedre dataforvaltning, kapasitetsbygging, utvikling av datamobiliseringsverktøy, samt evaluering av gjeldende rammevilkår og virkemiddelbruk rettet mot instituttsektoren. For å kunne realisere en operativ norsk LifeWatch e-infrastruktur må en tverrsektoriell forankring og organisering sikres. Vi anbefaler at nåværende LifeWatch-konsortium i samarbeid med Norges Forskningsråd arrangerer en interdepartemental LifeWatch konferanse innen Juni 2013 med relevante fagdepartement. Dette bør være første fase i utvidelsen av det nasjonale LifeWatch konsortiet, hvor hovedformålet bør være å klarlegge potensialet for merverdi og effektivisering for forskning og forvaltning. Forskningsrådet ønsker å styrke sin innsats for innovasjon i offentlig sektor og har derfor nylig startet arbeidet med strategiutvikling hvor grunntanken er å styrke kunnskapsflyten mellom forskning, næringsliv/industri og utdanningssektoren. Vi mener at en nasjonal LifeWatch e-forskningsinfrastruktur for miljø- og biodiversitetsdata generelt kan bidra til økt kvalitet, innovasjon og effektivitet innen forskningsmiljøene, samt økt anvendelse og politikkutforming innen næringsliv og offentlig forvaltning.LifeWatch is a pan- European initiative with a long-term focus on the development of scientifically based e-solutions for biodiversity- and ecosystem research. LifeWatch is a part of the European roadmap for infrastructure development (ESFRI- European Strategy for Research Infrastructure), and came into the Norwegian roadmap for infrastructure development in 2010. NINA was in 2008 invited by the Research Council of Norway to follow the development in the European LifeWatch project (funded by the European FP7 program for research and einfrastructure development), and to initiate a Norwegian pilot project. The Norwegian LifeWatch pilot project was formally kicked-off in January 2011 with financial support from the Research Council of Norway. The national consortium has been coordinated by NINA in close cooperation with the Norwegian Institute on Marine Research (IMR), The Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC), the Norwegian Institute for Freshwater Research (NIVA) and the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo (which holds the Norwegian node in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility). The aim of this pilot project has been to investigate the possibilities and challenges related to the realization of a Norwegian e-infrastructure for free sharing of biodiversity and environmental data across institutional and national borders, The Norwegian LifeWatch pilot project is tightly integrated with LifeWatch Europe through the NINA participation in the European LifeWatch Preparatory Phase (2008-2010), and through the NINA observatory seat in the LifeWatch Board meetings. With financial support from NordForsk, the LifeWatch consortiums of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, together with the Icelandic Museum of Natural History recently initiated a Nordic LifeWatch pilot project to investigate the possibilities of realizing a Nordic research e-infrastructure. A strong Nordic cooperation within LifeWatch Europe could have a long-term strategic importance for Nordic research institutions. Also, the Nordic LifeWatch level could represent a common interface between the different national levels and the European level. The pilot project has mapped user needs and metadata, and considered the most relevant principles, laws and guidelines for sharing of public funded environmental and biodiversity data. Further on, main challenges, barriers, terms and conditions for sharing of public funded research data are considered. Today large amounts of relevant biodiversity data are only partly accessible for the public society. The Consortium addresses relevant recommendations and actions for the realization of a national infrastructure for sharing of public funded environmental and biodiversity data. This includes the development of contract templates, strategies and action plans for improved data management, capacity building, development of data mobilization tools, and an evaluation of current terms and conditions towards the research institute sector in Norway. An operative Norwegian LifeWatch infrastructure demands mandatory support from all relevant Ministries. We recommend that the current Norwegian LifeWatch Consortium in cooperation with the Research council of Norway organize a national inter-Ministerial LifeWatch conference within June 2013. This should be the first step towards extending the national LifeWatch Consortium. The main goal of this conference should be to investigate potential added values and how the research and management sector could benefit from these added values in terms of increased efficiency. The Research Council of Norway wants to increase its effort in public innovation and has therefore started to develop strategies on how to improve the flow of knowledge between research, industry and the educational sector. A national LifeWatch e-infrastructure for environmental and biodiversity data in general will contribute to increased quality, innovation and efficiency within these three sectors. At this stage it is hard to be specific on how a future national LifeWatch e-infrastructure should be organized. The specific needs for such an e-infrastructure should be scoped to satisfy the needs identified in this pre-project. Further on it is very important that this e-infrastructure will be sufficiently aligned with existing parallel initiatives at national, Nordic and international levels. The main components of a national LifeWatch e-infrastructure are established as a Distribution portal and an Analysis portal. The Distribution portal will be designed for users that want to search biodiversity data and link these with environmental data for further analysis in other tools. The Analysis portal will be designed for users that want WEB functionality for search, filtration, calculation, presentation, screen display and downloading. All involved data will be distributed online from the stakeholder’s primary databases using standardized WEB protocols and services. Concerning organization of a large scale LifeWatch project, the central support functions of LifeWatch Europe can guide and support a future national project. In addition, the Nordic LifeWatch cooperation and sharing of common experiences will be useful. It will be essential that the public management institutions actively participate in order to ensure the link between research and management when it comes to environmental data and long time series. The Norwegian LifeWatch Consortium recommends applying for funding from the Research Council of Norway for a large scale LifeWatch project as soon as possible. The next Infrastructure call will probably be in October 2014. Also the upcoming European program for Research and Innovation, HORIZON 2020 (to be started in 2014), could be an actual source of funding if the Norwegian consortium applies together with one or several other European partners such as for instance the Nordic countries.© Norsk institutt for naturforskning. 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