The Expert Group on Antarctic Biodiversity Informatics aims to foster the application and development of biodiversity informatics (computationally-driven biodiversity science and information processing) in the SCAR community. It does this by coordinating and participating in a range of projects across the SCAR biodiversity science portfolio.
Biodiversity informatics is the application of informatics techniques to biodiversity information for improved management, presentation, discovery, exploration and analysis outcomes. It is generally focused on computationally-intensive aspects of biodiversity science and information processing, including architectures and systems, analysis and modelling methods, and human-computer interfaces. There is clearly a close relationship between informatics, data management, and biodiversity science, and so the EG-ABI group collaborates closely with a range of other groups and initiatives, including:
- the SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management
- the Southern Ocean Observing System
- SCAR research programmes and groups including Ant-ICON and EG-BAMM
- the Antarctic Environments Portal
- the SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal, biodiversity.aq
EG-ABI was created during the SCAR Life Sciences Standing Scientific Group meeting at the SCAR Open Science Conference in Portland Oregon, in July 2012. Its purpose is to foster the application and development of biodiversity informatics in the SCAR community, and it does this by coordinating and participating in a range of projects across the SCAR biodiversity science portfolio.