e-Biosphere 09 - Online Conference Community
e-Biosphere 09 (1-5 June 2009, London) will be a major worldwide moment for biodiversity informatics and all that this field can bring to our comprehension of the living world. EDIT is a central partner to this initiative and encourages all its members to participate in demonstrating the vibrancy and power of modern taxonomy.
The conference organizers have created a series of electronic discussion forums under the umbrella of the "Online Conference Community " (OCC; http://forum.e-biosphere09.org/). The OCC offers researchers and users of Biodiversity Informatics the opportunity to interact and prepare for the conference
The OCC has been divided into 14 subcommunities for more focused discussions. These correspond to major research topics related to Biodiversity Informatics and its use by different groups. One session of the conference will be devoted to break-out discussion groups which will correspond with these online subcommunities, giving the
participants the opportunity to meet in person to continue their interactions.
The conference organizers offer two challenges to researchers and users of Biodiversity Informatics. ubcommunities will have the opportunity to submit manuscripts that respond to these challenges for possible publication in the Conference Proceedings Volume. The challenges are:
1. Prepare a real-time demonstration for the three days of the e-Biosphere 09 conference that shows how information on new discoveries enters, propagates, and becomes interconnected with the rest of Biodiversity Informatics. For example, can a newly discovered species be described, published, and documented worldwide through a cascade of information through interconnected databases, all in three days?
2. Prepare a Position Paper that describes the information resources, database interoperability, and data analysis capabilities that each subcommunity will need five to ten years from now. For example, what new information resources and informatics capabilities will agricultural researchers need? What interoperability will they
need concerning plant biology, agricultural pests, pathogens, invasive species, environmental factors, to name a few?
EDIT encourages the taxonomic community to use this OCC as a tool for lively discussion of issues in taxonomy, and would in particular welcome a response to the challenges issued by the e-biosphere 09 organisers.
Questions concerning the e-Biosphere 09 Conference can be sent to inquiries.e-biosphere09@si.edu.