Sustainability of EDIT Informatics Activities

BoD working group on sustainability Executive Summary, 20th July 2009: “… set of themes we are sure we want to have sustainability... Science (e-science) […] e-infrastructure ISTC (core) Elements of the Cyber platform (core) but depends on decision on platform (use by the community) CDM data store & portal: Supported for 5 years. Scratchpads: will continue (project funding ?). EDIT could part support it.” [agenda point 4f]

EDIT’s Information Science and Technology Committee (ISTC)

Information Science and Technology Committee The short and medium term goals of the ISTC (until 2011) are to: 1.Define the key areas for integration that will assist EDIT researchers and developers in creating a [cyber]taxonomic platform. 2.Participate in establishing an integrated platform by changing or adapting resources in order to reach a common goal. 3.Advise on the annual revision of the WP5 work plan.

The new ISTC The purpose of the ISTC is to: Further cross-institutional integration through formal agreements on  sharing hardware and other basic infrastructure  joint software development  joint development of web services Exchange information with regard to participants’ IST projects Identify opportunities for collaboration with “external” IST- projects Joint applications Support standardisation efforts

The new ISTC MoU revision cycles: June 20: MoU Draft submitted to EDIT Coordinator and Network Steering Committee July 20: Comments, received, integrated in new Draft; circulate draft to BoD, CETAF, ISTC for comment November 30: Comments discussed and integrated; circulation of MoU to EDIT and CETAF directors for signature.

The EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy (and the Common Data Model – CDM)

EDIT’s Biodiversity Informatics Strategy Scope: from data discovery to web and print publication of monographs, floras, faunas and checklists Individuals, institutions, collaborative groups and networks  The EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy A data quality-oriented software environment supporting the entire taxonomic workflow. Based on the Common Data Model (EDIT CDM), with an extendible open-source Java programming library.  EDIT Scratchpads User-defined web publication, communication and integration of multiple information sources. Based on a hosted multi-site open source content management system (Drupal).

The EDIT Common Data Model (CDM) Core of the EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy Covering the entire taxonomic data domain Based on existing standards / models / exchange formats

The CDM Programming Library

The EDITor (EDIT Taxonomic Editor) A new editor for the new data model Offers CDM Library import/export functionality to end users. A key tool for data integration.

CDM library import / export routines Data Entry & Import/Export EDITor CDM Excel Structured Descriptive Data (TDWG standard) Access to Biological Collection Data (TDWG st.) RIS Reference Format Apps: community, EDIT, commercial, individual

Access to GBIF occurrence data (Specimens & Observations) Based on BioCASE/ SYNTHESYS portal software Configurable query expansion using taxonomic checklists Search results can be imported into the CDM EDIT Specimen & Observation Explorer

Application of Drupal Content Management System Feature-rich Integrated with existing biodiversity infrastructure Configurable through administrative interface Customizable through Drupal interface templates (“themes”) CDM Dataportal Web Publishing

Software Download Site wp5.e-taxonomy.eu/cdm-setups/

Ongoing Software Development Work Generic print publication service Integration of descriptive information Full support for structured specimen data Point map support Integration with the Biodiversity Heritage Library To be finalised by the end of the EDIT Project

Pan European Species Inventories (PESI) Anton Gürntsch, BGBM Berlin-Dahlem

CATE (Creating a Taxonomic e-Science) Two exemplar web-revisions: Araceae Juss. – Aroid Lillies ~ 3,500 taxa Led by Simon Mayo, RBG Kew Sphingidae Latreille, 1802 – Hawkmoths ~ 2,000 taxa Led by Ian Kitching, NHM London Fully CDM-based Integrates key-generation software Scratchpad for communications Ben Clark, RBG Kew

Further Project Support for the Platform PESI BHL Europe SYNTHESYS 2 ViBRANT i4Life (e-Monocots) LifeWatch (!)

Why collaborating in IT developments? Taxonomic domain is highly collaborative  Example: Flora projects, Checklists, Digitisation efforts Previous domain-specific efforts in biodiversity informatics  Numerous individual and some institutional implementations  Few working software products, only covering parts of the domain  Investments: 100’s of million Euro world-wide Joint modelling and standard-building  Efforts for 20 years now  Excellent knowledge of the information structures New Investment  EDIT, EDIT-spin-offs, CATE etc. already represent new soft money commitments of about 11 Mio Euro from EU- and national sources Aiming at a sustainable, collaborative, comprehensive solution We all face similar problems in taxonomic computing