Information

Seu doi: 10.3897/biss.3.36106

Conference Abstract

B S S Biodiversity Biodiversity Information Science and Standards 3: e36106

Training Taxonomists for the Digital World: Are we

prepared?

Boyko B Georgiev*, Ana Casino8, Catherina Voreadoul

+ Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria § CETAF, Brussels, Belgium | Natural History Museum of Crete, Leoforos Sofokli Venizelou, Greece

Corresponding author: Boyko B Georgiev (boyko_georgiev@yahoo.com)

Received: 11 May 2019 | Published: 21 Jun 2019

Citation: Georgiev B, Casino A, Voreadou C (2019) Training Taxonomists for the Digital World: Are we prepared? Biodiversity Information Science and Standards 3: e36106. https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.3.36106

Abstract

Digital knowledge and skills are rapidly becoming integral part of the work of the modern taxonomist. Their importance is further increased with the recent recognition of DiSSCo ( Distributed System of Scientific Collections, https://dissco.eu). This new pan-European research infrastructure envisions placing European natural science collections at the centre of data-intensive scientific excellence and innovation for taxonomic and environmental research, food security, health and the bioeconomy. The mission of this ambitious project is to mobilise, unify and deliver bio- and geo-diversity information at the scale, form and precision required by scientific communities as well as to transform a fragmented landscape into a coherent and responsive research infrastructure.

An important step in improving the capacity of the research community underpinning DiSSCo is the COST Action MOBILISE (Mobilising Data, Policies and Experts in Scientific Collections, https:/Mwww.mobilise-action.eu). One of major capacity- building objectives is to facilitate implementation of common standards and newly- developed techniques by training and education. Its achievement is envisaged by standardised training modules such as training courses, workshops, webinars, online tutorials and short-term visits to other research units.

The first impression from surveying interests of candidates to be included into training events, demonstrates an uneven distribution of digital knowledge and skills across

© Georgiev B et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

2 Georgiev B et al

countries, institutions and generations. We advocate that a massive coordinated training programme may result in more efficient establishment of common standards and, consequently, better implementation of the forthcoming joint efforts in the development of the new pan-European research infrastricture.

Keywords

Digital knowledge, digital skills, DiSSCo, MOBILISE, taxonomy, research, education, training, natural history collections, capacity building, young researchers

Presenting author

Boyko B Georgiev

Presented at

Biodiversity_Next 2019 - "SS78-Facilitating Capacity Building of Young Researchers"