INTER-AMERICAN WORKSHOP ON ENVIRONMENTAL DATA ACCESS

Contributions to Information Sharing in the Hemisphere by the National Biological Information Infrastructure

Thomas Lahr


The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) strongly supports information exchange activities in the Americas because an understanding of the regional context is key to preserving the biodiversity of our hemisphere. Sharing information across borders helps us multiply the value of our activities and research, and helps us learn from each other what has failed and what has worked. NBII partners with dozens of organizations from many countries, including agencies at all levels of government, non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations, academia, and private sector enterprises. New partnerships are continually sought.

NBII carries out a variety of activities in support of Western Hemisphere information sharing, such as:
  • Cataloging biological information from U.S. and international sources
  • Creating multilingual search capabilities
  • Sharing invasive species metadata among countries
  • Strengthening biodiversity informatics capabilities in partner organizations
  • Adding content to the World Data Center for Biodiversity and Ecology
  • Providing free access to images of species with scientifically validated metadata
  • Designing and serving effective web sites
  • Developing taxonomic authorities with partners worldwide
NBII also leads the nation's activities under the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network, and the Clearing-House Mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

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