2. Who Am I?
Alex Hardisty
Director of Informatics Projects
Cardiff School of Computer Science and Informatics
My roles (as well as BioVeL Coordinator)
LifeWatch Strategic Management (Tech. Architect)
ENVRI Common operations of ESFRI Environmental
Infrastructures (Workpackage leader)
CReATIVE-B Coordination of Research e-Infrastructures
Activities Toward an International Virtual Environment
for Biodiversity (Workpackage leader)
3. Vision
A seamlessly connected environment ...
Service Oriented Architecture and e-Infrastructure
that makes it easier for biodiversity scientists to
carry out in-silico analysis of relevant biodiversity
data and to pursue in-silico experimentation ...
Virtual laboratory
based on composing / executing sequences of
data manipulations and modelling tasks
Workflows composed from services
Taxonomy, Phylogenetics, Metagenomics, Niche
Modelling, Population modelling, Mapping, etc.
4. Value added
Lowering barriers to entry for biodiversity
e-Scientists
Range of robust biodiversity services deployed
Useful packs of workflows for biodiversity research
Easier user interfaces for creating & using workflows
Specific Support Centre for help and training
Supporting science supporting EU biodiversity
policy objectives
CO2 sequestration, Invasive species, Ecosystem services
Steps to integration of biodiversity research assets
5. Fits in a portfolio of
Euro-biodiversity informatics
Reputed NoEs
ALTER-Net, EDIT, LTER-Europe, PESI, SCAR-MarBIN, etc.
Funded projects
4D4Life, Aquamaps, ArtDataBanken, BioDiversityWorld,
BioFresh, EuroMarine, Fauna Iberica, iMarine, i4Life,
OpenBio, OpenPlantBio, ViBRANT, etc.
Important contribution to ESFRI LifeWatch
Global context
GBIF, GSC Biodiversity WG, CReATIVE-B
pending EU-US cooperation
6. The consortium
(partners)
Partner Scientific Technical e-Inf. access
Cardiff University (CU) - Coordinator X X
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Institute IAIS (FhG IAIS) X
Hungarian Academy of Sciences Institute of Ecology and Botany (IEB) X X
University of Amsterdam (UvA) Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem
X X
Dynamics
National Research Council (CNR) Institute for Biomedical Technologies X
University of Gothenburg (UGOT) X X
Max Planck Society, MPI for Marine Microbiology (MPG) X X
Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental (CRIA) X X
Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity (NCB Naturalis) (replaces
X
Society for the Management of Electronic Biodiversity Data (SMEBD))
University of Manchester (UNIMAN) X X
Foundation for Biodiversity Research (FRB) X X
University of Eastern Finland (UEF) X X
Free University of Berlin – Botanical Gardens and Botanical Museum
X X
(FUB-BGBM)
National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) X X
Stichting European Grid Initiative (EGI.eu) X X
8. What we need from
e-Infrastructures
Execution of workflow on e-Infrastructure
Tools as services so environments like Taverna can
access them
Foundational services. We don’t want to do generic
stuff. Clear, open, industry standard interfaces. No
dependencies on particular provider
Service scaling
Capacity on-demand to support large scale analyses
Strong channels of communication to providers
e.g., to get technical know-how for packaging
community services to be “e-Inf ready”
9. On fundamental model
for e-Science
Our project depends on it. Two areas need
greater attention:
1. Better engagement with industry, leading to
wide availability and use of sustained standard
products - is necessary to reach critical mass
2. Closing the gap between what this community is
doing and what the computing services
organisations in the HEIs and Research Institutes
are doing for general research, teaching and
learning support