Establishing an Effective GBIF Participant Node Concepts and general considerations

The conservation and sustainable use of biological resources depend on an understanding of biodiversity and the processes that underlie it. While 250 years of biodiversity research and data collection have generated a wealth of information, it is scattered across a multitude of sources and formats: from museum collection specimens and local government reports to published literature and university researchers’ own computers. On top of these historical resources, today’s technological and scientific advances are generating more data in huge quantities and fresh formats. Mobilizing this information in a structured way while using common standards and common platforms not only contributes to the understanding of biodiversity, but also enables a vast range of uses, creates new research opportunities and supports policymaking at the national and global levels.

GBIF—the Global Biodiversity Information Facility—is an international network and research infrastructure that exists to enable free and open access to biodiversity data from all sources and to support biodiversity science, environmental research, and evidence-based decision-making. GBIF operates as a federated system of distributed data publishing efforts, coordinated through a global informatics infrastructure and collaborative network.

Since GBIF’s founding in 2001, the participating countries and organizations have been testing and developing models for coordinating the mobilization, management and reuse of biodiversity data at the national level or within an organization’s scope. The formation of Participant ‘nodes’ has been central to these efforts. Designated by each Participant, these teams coordinate the needs and interests of the many stakeholders involved.

This guide draws on the experience of the GBIF network to offer guidance on establishing an effective Participant node. It targets two main audiences within the ‘GBIF family’: the delegates representing each Participant on the GBIF Governing Board, and the node managers appointed to coordinate biodiversity information facilities within each country or organization. It can also be used by countries and institutions that have not yet joined GBIF, but are making plans to do so. It introduces key concepts and generalized views of Participant node activities, including recommendations on a participatory approach to follow in designating a node, and designing its governance structures.

Participants in GBIF are countries, international organizations or economies having signed the GBIF Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Signatories to this agreement express their commitment to establish a co-ordinated effort to support open access and use of biodiversity data, to advance scientific research, and to promote technological and sustainable development.

A GBIF Participant node is a team designated by a Participant to coordinate a network of people and institutions that produce, manage and use biodiversity data, collectively building an infrastructure for delivering biodiversity information. They are supported by organizational arrangements and informatics solutions, working to improve the availability and usefulness of biodiversity data for research, policy and decision-making. For countries, these networks aresometimes referred to as a biodiversity information facility (see Box 1).

Two main roles are assigned when a Participant joins GBIF: the Head of Delegation and the node manager (see Box 2). The Head of Delegation represents the country, economy or organization on the GBIF Governing Board, and acts as the Participant’s primary focal point for all GBIF-related activity. The node manager leads the operational activities of the country or organization in coordinating the mobilization and use of open-access biodiversity data, and also represents the Participant on the GBIF Participant Node Managers Committee. A Participant node is typically hosted by an existing biodiversity-related institution or institutions in the Participant country, or by Participant organizations.

A broad range of stakeholders are involved in GBIF-related activities at the Participant level, including data holders, biodiversity knowledge experts, data users, and decision-makers Box 3). Participant nodes have the role of connecting each of these audiences’ needs and interests, enabling them to contribute to and benefit from participation in the GBIF network.

Participant nodes typically have four main functions (see also Section 3):

Participant nodes are thus knowledge hubs both for biodiversity data and broader GBIF-related activities. They not only guide stakeholders to relevant sources of biodiversity information but also to such things as:

Most Participant nodes develop a collaborative framework of policies, agreements, community norms and standards, which are adopted by their stakeholders to guide the publication, management and use of biodiversity data.

The governance structure of each Participant node varies but often takes the form of a board or steering committee. This configuration enables data holders, users and other stakeholders to take collective decisions concerning the publishing and reuse of biodiversity data while providing the node with priorities and guidance on the implementation of its work.

Participant nodes provide the technical expertise to support the publication of biodiversity data of the highest possible quality by data holders. This involves using informatics infrastructure, and many implementation models are available, from using hosted data publication services to maintaining a distributed network of data publishers and a centralized index of the data. The node may also support a range of other information products and services, for example, by maintaining a biodiversity data portal and online tools for data analysis.

Participant nodes and biodiversity information facilities help GBIF Participants increase the return from their past, current, and future investments in biodiversity research and data collection. They help make the publication of primary data part of the scientific mainstream, as much part of culture and practice as publication of the results in research itself. In their facilitating role, nodes help data holders publish their data using common standards and protocols to ensure interoperability and open access and make data available for the widest possible reuse. They also contribute to commitments that promote transparency and open access to scientific data, helping data holders comply with open data regulations and requirements.

Nodes play a valuable role in promoting data management practices and in encouraging the community of biodiversity knowledge-holders to pool their expertise. This work can in turn continuously improve the quality and fitness-for-use of available biodiversity data and provide a platform for taxonomy and collaborative collection management.

By coordinating biodiversity information facilities, nodes are well positioned to assess biodiversity data availability and gaps (taxonomic, spatial and temporal) at the Participant level, to understand data and information use and needs, and to implement strategies in response. Thus, nodes can contribute to setting biodiversity research priorities.

Nodes play a role in coordinating the broad landscape of biodiversity informatics initiatives by engaging new communities and making international connections through GBIF. This coordination helps to create strong partnerships and alignment of efforts, complementing other biodiversity-related initiatives by providing the data foundations and infrastructure for a wide range of applications.

Nodes can also increase the efficiency of implementing a biodiversity information facility by making use of the common tools, practices, information resources and opportunities for collaborative capacity enhancement available through the GBIF network. By making the connection to GBIF, nodes enable the integration of data mobilized at the Participant level with relevant data published by other countries and organizations. Data mobilized through a Participant biodiversity information facility to serve national needs also become available for reuse by the broader international audience, raising the visibility of the Participant’s data publishing institutions and mobilization efforts.

Finally, Participant nodes help develop capacity in the use of collective biodiversity data resources. Their efforts support both basic and applied research relevant to policy decisions across a range of issues of primary economic and social importance, including food security, agricultural livelihoods, disease risk and the impacts of climate change. This also supports information requirements for meeting national and global commitments including biodiversity-related conventions and sustainable development goals. Thus, fully functional Participant nodes and biodiversity information facilities are instrumental in helping Participants achieve their own biodiversity data-related goals and targets.

The specific responsibilities and services provided by each node vary considerably, depending in part on the Participant’s priorities for joining GBIF. Furthermore, some GBIF Participant nodes provide services that are delivered by separate biodiversity-related institutions in other countries and organizations. Nevertheless, the services and responsibilities of nodes can be broadly grouped into four main categories that align with GBIF’s strategic plan and work programme:

Establishing a Participant node involves a number of critical decisions that will impact its effectiveness, which therefore deserve careful consideration from the beginning. These decisions mostly apply to country Participants, although some extend to organizations when there are several networked institutions in which a node could potentially be based. The process is typically influenced by factors specific to the Participant’s context including:

While these factors vary considerably between Participants, lessons from the community can help new GBIF Participants, or those going through strategic changes in their decision-making processes. Box 4 shows a simplified participatory approach towards making some of the key decisions necessary to establish an effective node.

The key recommendation is to start a participatory process at the Participant level, ideally led by the Head of Delegation or the institution that has been given the responsibility to sign the GBIF Memorandum of Understanding. This process should include discussing the long-term vision and mission for the Participant node, and formulating a recommendation for the node’s establishment. It can be useful to begin by envisaging the scope of the biodiversity information facility required by the Participant, rather than looking at the role of the coordinating node in isolation. An effective first step is for the Head of Delegation or lead institution to convene a group of representatives from the Participant’s key biodiversity stakeholder institutions, helping to ensure their ownership of the process from the beginning.

See box 4

Many tools exist to support dialogue around the establishment of a Participant node. We recommend carrying out a capacity self-assessment (see Section 4.1.3) to identify the key capacity strengths and needs, and from which to measure progress in future. A preliminary content needs assessment conducted at the Participant level through a survey, workshop or literature analysis (possibly led by a consultant) can provide valuable information to guide the stakeholder group in formulating their recommendations. This assessment helps ensure that the needs and priorities of a broad stakeholder group are represented in the process. Stakeholder mapping can also shape an understanding how the biodiversity information facility and node will address the Participant’s needs and priorities, and complement other biodiversity-related or information-related initiatives.

After defining the scope of a biodiversity information facility and the long-term vision and goals for its coordinating node, stakeholders are ready to discuss implementation plans for the node. These should include aspects such as the collaborative framework, infrastructure requirements, governance structure, funding, membership of governing and/or advisory bodies, the node’s roles and responsibilities, as well as the key decision on where to locate the node.

The following questions can help the process of establishing a node:

When designing and implementing the process of establishing a node, new Participants are encouraged to seek regular advice and guidance directly from existing Participants and the Secretariat: past experience often helps to identify potential problems and find effective solutions.

Ideally, the results of this process should form the basis of the recommendations for establishing the Participant node (including formal aspects such as the legal mandate). The group of stakeholders convened to support this process may be encouraged to become the initial members of the node’s network and governing bodies.

Establishing a Participant node and biodiversity information facility is about changing the way individuals and institutions operate and cooperate. There is no single perfect solution, and choices will depend on the circumstances and priorities of each Participant. The more inclusive, transparent and participatory the process is, the greater the chances are that the node will effectively meet the Participant’s biodiversity information needs into the long term.

Supporting the establishment and further development of Participant nodes and their work is a priority for GBIF as a whole. This guide has introduced some important general considerations in the process of establishing a node. This section explains other opportunities available to gain from experience of the GBIF network in this area.