Disciplinary groups play a pivotal role in the Research Data Alliance (RDA) ecosystem. Not only do they provide a mechanism for engaging with the outputs of the RDA community, they are instrumental in providing input to the cross-cutting technical and socio-cultural groups. With its formation and endorsement in 2013, the Biodiversity Data Integration IG has been one of the pioneering groups in RDA, focusing from the outset on linking the wider communities of practice in the biodiversity data domain with experts and other communities within RDA. 

The RDA community is invited to comment on a variety of documents while they undergo a community review phase as part of their endorsement or recognition by RDA.

The COVID-19 outbreak was a game changer that will have a permanent effect on digital strategies. It has made it abundantly clear that the domain needs to expand its digital strategies beyond simply adding content online. This includes strengthening relationships with our audiences, supporting the development of people and their digital skills, evaluating joint policies and the ability to evaluate choices in the ever changing technology landscape. The BDI IG aims to be a platform for discussion and development of recommendations and guidance that can help institutions and researchers in the domain in their digital transformation.

This charter has been updated because there are many developments in the field of biodiversity data now that would benefit with alignment of developments in other scientific domains and vice versa. Examples are the global movement to FAIR data, implementing RDA recommendations towards a FAIR DO infrastructure for specimens with Natural Science Identifiers, an extended Catalogue of Life and the establishment of a Global Alliance for Biodiversity Knowledge.

Please find the updated Charter here.

Learn more here.