TWENTY-YEAR REVIEW OF GBIF FULL REPORT 2 CODATA Twenty Year Review of GBIF Please cite this report as: CODATA, the Committee on Data of the International Science Council; Pfeiffenberger, Hans; Uhlir, Paul; Twenty-Year Review of GBIF (CODATA, Paris, 2020) https://doi.org/10.35035/ctzm-hz97 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License – Except where noted otherwise (some figures) – Table of Contents 3 The Twenty-Year Review of GBIF comprises two documents: The EXECUTIVE SUMMARY and the FULL REPORT (this document).1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 6 1.1. Background and Previous Reviews of GBIF ........................................................................................ 7 1.2. Brief Description of GBIF Today .......................................................................................................... 8 1.3. Overview of the 20-Year Review Process ........................................................................................... 9 1.4. Review Methods ................................................................................................................................ 10 1.5. Structure and Organization of the Report .......................................................................................... 11 1.6. Conventions in this Document ........................................................................................................... 12 2 GBIF AND THE LANDSCAPE OF BIODIVERSITY-RELATED ORGANIZATIONS . 14 2.1. Users and Contributors of (GBIF-mediated) Biodiversity Data .......................................................... 17 Science ............................................................................................................................................ 17 Organizations at the Science-Policy Interface ................................................................................. 18 Applied Research ............................................................................................................................. 19 Citizen Science ................................................................................................................................ 20 Commercial Sector ........................................................................................................................... 22 2.2. Biodiversity Infrastructures ................................................................................................................ 22 Museums and Collections ................................................................................................................ 22 Data Infrastructures .......................................................................................................................... 24 Information Infrastructures ............................................................................................................... 26 Data Infrastructures as Organizational Entities ................................................................................ 27 Actors in Setting Standards .............................................................................................................. 27 2.3. GBIF’s Position in the Global Biodiversity Informatics Landscape .................................................... 28 1 This independent report was requested from CODATA by the GBIF Governing Board and leadership, who comprise the primary intended audience. Government decision-makers and others in the biodiversity community may want to read Chapter 9 of the FULL REPORT, which contains the full conclusions and recommendations, and the body of the report for the supporting evidence and rationale. The report is also intended to provide the GBIF team leaders and data Node managers with a neutral view of GBIF by external experts. 4 CODATA Twenty Year Review of GBIF 3 USER AND CONTRIBUTOR PERSPECTIVES ........................................................ 30 3.1. Description ......................................................................................................................................... 30 3.2. SWOT Compilation ............................................................................................................................ 33 3.2.1 Strengths ..................................................................................................................................... 33 3.2.2 Weaknesses ................................................................................................................................ 33 3.2.3 Opportunities ............................................................................................................................... 34 3.2.4 Threats ......................................................................................................................................... 34 3.3. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 34 4 GBIF/BIODIVERSITY INFORMATION IMPACT AND ITS METRICS ...................... 37 4.1. Description ......................................................................................................................................... 37 4.1.1 Success Stories ........................................................................................................................... 38 4.1.2 Citation of GBIF-mediated data use ............................................................................................ 40 4.1.3 Other measures of impact ........................................................................................................... 42 4.2. SWOT Compilation ............................................................................................................................ 44 4.2.1 Strengths ..................................................................................................................................... 44 4.2.2 Weaknesses ................................................................................................................................ 44 4.2.3 Opportunities ............................................................................................................................... 45 4.2.4 Threats ......................................................................................................................................... 46 4.3. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 46 5 DATA, STANDARDS, AND TECHNOLOGY ............................................................ 48 5.1. Description ......................................................................................................................................... 48 5.1.1 Data Volume and Quality ............................................................................................................. 50 Data Volume ..................................................................................................................................... 50 Data Quality ...................................................................................................................................... 54 5.1.2 Gaps and Biases ......................................................................................................................... 59 5.1.3 Standards and Technologies ....................................................................................................... 61 5.1.4 The Alliance for Biodiversity Knowledge ...................................................................................... 63 5.2. SWOT Compilation ............................................................................................................................ 66 5.2.1 Strengths ..................................................................................................................................... 66 5.2.2 Weaknesses ................................................................................................................................ 67 5.2.3 Opportunities ............................................................................................................................... 70 5.2.4 Threats ......................................................................................................................................... 73 5.3. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 74 5.3.1 Data Volume and Quality ............................................................................................................. 75 5.3.2 Gaps and Biases ......................................................................................................................... 76 5.3.3 Standards and Technology .......................................................................................................... 77 6 COMMUNITY, OUTREACH, CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT, AND TRAINING ......... 80 6.1. Description ......................................................................................................................................... 80 6.2. SWOT Compilation ...........................................................................................................................