Finnish biodiversity information facility FinBIF : One-stop-shop research infrastructure

Abstract

Tackling with the loss of biodiversity and global warming increases the need for biodiversity data. However, only a fraction of this data is currently in open-access format. The research infrastructure FinBIF governed by The Finnish Museum of Natural History was established to accelerate the digitization, mobilization, and open-access distribution of biodiversity data, and to boost its use in research, decision-making and education. Its first full operational year was 2017. During 2022-2026 our organization is one of the five consortium members in the third construction cycle of FinBIF, the project theme being Expansion, Integration, and Development of AI-Based Research Services. FinBIF offers six types of services: 1. Provision of biodiversity data for research and other uses, 2. A reference library of DNA barcodes of Finnish species, 3. Imaging of specimens to produce high-resolution images for further use, 4. Data management services, including a joint collection management system and platform for observational data, 5. Research use services, e.g. automated species identification from sounds, are under development, and 6. Educational services, e.g. iNaturalist Finland for training in species identification. By making the biodiversity data openly accessible through a one-stop-shop online portal at www.laji.fi/en, FinBIF promotes the use of data for current and future research and teaching. From laji.fi the data is also shared to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF (www.gbif.org). FinBIF promotes co-operation and dialogue between museums and other collection holders, authorities, and citizen scientists. In the presentation, a brief overview of the main objectives of this on-going project is given.