GBIF Work Programme 2023

Annual Update to Implementation Plan 2023–2027
Version 1, 5 Oct 2022

Table of Contents
Explanatory note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Priority Area 1: Science and Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Activity 1.1: Drive mobilization and use of biodiversity data to support priority thematic areasof relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Activity 1.2: Advance GBIF’s contribution to latest biodiversity modelling approaches. . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Activity 1.3: Support open science principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Ongoing activities to support science and research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Priority Area 2: Policy and Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Activity 2.1: Support implementation of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Activity 2.2: Support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Activity 2.3: Support the science-policy interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Activity 2.4: Support nature-positive outcomes from private-sector decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Priority Area 3: Community and Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Activity 3.1: Make the business case for GBIF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Activity 3.2: Support and strengthen GBIF nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Activity 3.3: Expand and strengthen national participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Activity 3.4: Develop capacity and skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Ongoing activities to support community and capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Priority Area 4: Infrastructure and data products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Activity 4.1: Enhance robustness of the core GBIF infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Activity 4.2: Enhance support services for data publishers and users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Activity 4.3: Enhance features and capabilities of the GBIF infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Activity 4.4: Drive data standards development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Ongoing activities to support infrastructure and data products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Colophon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Suggested citation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Persistent URI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Document control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Explanatory noteThis is the first annual GBIF Work Programme presented under the new Strategic Framework for2023-2027, following its approval by the Governing Board at its 29th meeting in 2022. It represents
the first edition of a five-year rolling implementation plan aimed at realizing the vision, fulfilling themission, achieving the objectives and observing the values set out in the Strategic Framework.
You will notice significant differences from the Implementation Plan and Work Programmes
presented to the Governing Board during the previous Strategic Plan period. The overall aim is tofocus on the key outcomes that can be expected from GBIF’s work linking them to the four priority
areas set out in the Strategic Framework. The Work Programme approved at GB29 is less granularthan in previous years, with an emphasis on what will be delivered and achieved, enabling theGoverning Board to assess at future meetings whether implementation is on track. Specific tasks,
events or contracts are presented as indicative only, and the intention is to enable flexibility in themeans of achieving the proposed outcomes, both within the Secretariat and through the collective
efforts of GBIF’s nodes and partners.
Each Priority Area contains up to four designated Activities as well as an Ongoing Activity which
presents work that is a continuation across the five-year Implementation Plan. Activity Areas maychange over the Implementation Plan as we work to achieve the overall mission of the Strategic
Framework. Likewise, many of the indicative tasks will require multi-year efforts to achieve theprojected outcomes. Therefore, the Activity Areas and indicative tasks should be viewed through afive-year time frame.
The 2023 budget is a separate document. Under improved financial reporting arrangements
recommended by the Budget Committee and approved by the Governing Board, the 2023 budget
reflects more transparently the full expenditure dedicated to each priority, including associatedsalary costs, grants, and contracts, as well as incorporating both Voting Participant contributions andsupplementary funds income and expenses allocated towards implementation of the Work
Programme. Similar levels of staff time are allocated to Priority Areas 1, 3 and 4, with less time inPriority Area 2.

Finally, the Work Programme combines activities required to maintain GBIF’s existing services andcollaborations as a mature infrastructure as well as measures to implement the enhancements and1

developments needed to meet the objectives of the Strategic Framework. The document’s structure
indicates these components within each priority area.

Priority Area 1: Science and Research
Improving biodiversity evidence for scientific research and understanding

Activity 1.1: Drive mobilization and use of biodiversity
data to support priority thematic areas of relevance
Projected outcomes for 2027
• Knowledge gaps are reduced by consolidating data coverage across the thematic areas ofrelevance• GBIF’s relevance to research is enhanced, through increased recognition and uptake of GBIFmediated data among researchers across additional scientific disciplines

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Continue and advance collaborative activities with soil, freshwater and disease vector researchcommunities, including mechanisms for analysing current data use, sponsoring data papers,
providing small grants to fund data mobilization, and developing targeted guidance on
publishing thematically relevant data
• Support data management and flows for the Vector Atlas project funded by the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation• Update current guidance on publishing DNA-derived data, provide translation, promotion andtraining, and enhance and expand reference libraries incorporated into the GBIF taxonomic
backbone• Direct additional eDNA data streams to GBIF, including from national programmes

Activity 1.2: Advance GBIF’s contribution to latest
biodiversity modelling approaches
Projected outcomes for 2027
• GBIF supports the evolution of fundamental data-driven biodiversity research and its application
across methods, scales and disciplines in life and environmental sciences

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Coordinate development of use cases demonstrating the value of biodiversity data acrosscutting-edge modelling approaches, through the Biodiversity Digital Twin (BioDT) project
supported by Horizon Europe2• Improve data streams between GBIF and key ecological data infrastructures• Improve data streams between GBIF and other biodiversity data infrastructures, including
through the Biodiversity Community Integrated Knowledge Library (BiCIKL) project supportedby Horizon 2020

Activity 1.3: Support open science principles
Projected outcomes for 2027
• GBIF is recognized as a leader and an exemplary initiative across the worldwide open science
community

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Engage with working groups on UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science to ensure GBIF’s
experience and innovations regarding open and FAIR data are well reflected in associatedguidance and documentation• Engage with OECD Secretariat to ensure best practices developed by GBIF are reflected in its
Recommendation on Access to Research Data from Public Funding• Work with nodes, data publishers, partners and indigenous peoples’ groups to complete andimplement GBIF recommendations on applying The CARE Principles on Indigenous Data
Governance• Author peer-reviewed paper describing GBIF’s literature tracking system and analysing its impact
on data citation

Ongoing activities to support science and research• Maintain GBIF’s literature tracking programme to document and communicate the use of GBIFmediated data in research• Promote best practices in data citation using digital object identifiers (DOIs), through outreach toresearchers and journal publishers• Highlight and illustrate uses of GBIF-mediated data across scientific disciplines and thematic
areas through GBIF.org and the annual Science Review• Keep priority thematic relevance areas under regular review, based on outcomes achieved andon advice of the Science Committee and expert groups convened for this purpose• Ensure presence of GBIF representatives—including through Secretariat and node staff, regional
contractors and Open Biodiversity Data Ambassadors—at relevant scientific conferences withappropriate communication materials, presentations and training workshops• Run annual competitions through the Ebbe Nielsen Challenge and Young Researchers Awards• Work with partners to maintain and improve support for academic programmes in use of open
biodiversity data
• Keep GBIF’s compliance with FAIR principles for scientific data management and stewardshipunder continuous review, with appropriate communication and certification for relevant projects

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and processes

Priority Area 2: Policy and Partnerships
Developing partnerships that benefit policy and society

Activity 2.1: Support implementation of the post-2020
Global Biodiversity Framework
Projected outcomes for 2027
• GBIF-mediated data is consistently and transparently applied and cited across multiple indicators
used to monitor progress towards the goals and targets agreed through the UN Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD)• GBIF is recognized as a key implementation partner for biodiversity-related projects supportedby the Global Environment Facility (GEF)• GBIF-mediated data is fully integrated into national Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM) platforms
as well as national reporting processes for the CBD

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Implement recommendations from the 2022 consultation through the alliance for biodiversity
knowledge to enhance use of primary biodiversity data in CBD indicators• Formalize partnership with the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network(GEO BON) to define GBIF’s role in supporting global, national, regional and thematic observation
networks and the data needed to measure Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs)• Build on discussions initiated in 2022 to consolidate GBIF’s position as a service provider for GEF
implementation agencies• Work with information management team at CBD Secretariat and its Informal Advisory Group on
Technical and Scientific Cooperation to provide the option of GBIF hosted portals as a standard
component of CHM sites• Improve GBIF connections and explore partnerships with other biodiversity-related conventions
such as the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), the Convention on International Trade inEndangered Species of Wild Fauna and Fauna (CITES) and Ramsar Convention on Wetlands,
including through better coordination between GBIF nodes and national focal points

Activity 2.2: Support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development
Projected outcomes for 2027
• GBIF’s value in supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is recognized andreinforced through strategic partnerships with relevant international organizations focused on

4climate change, food security, human health and well-being, and both terrestrial and marine
biodiversity• Relevance to multiple SDGs contributes to a broader funding base for GBIF both through projectbased support and national contributions• National contributions and project-based support provide a broader funding base that increases
GBIF’s relevance to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Explore formal partnership options with the World Health Organization (WHO), Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO), Green Climate Fund, UN Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD) and other relevant agencies to build on demonstration and communication of thematic
relevance across the SDGs
• Develop new communication materials that describe GBIF’s value and in support of the SDGs
• Develop GBIF’s strategy for marine biodiversity, including its contributions to SDG 14 (Life Below
Water) and the UN Decade on Ocean Science, in partnership with the Ocean Biodiversity
Information System (OBIS) and other relevant stakeholders

Activity 2.3: Support the science-policy interface
Projected outcomes for 2027
• GBIF’s role in providing data infrastructure essential to the work of the Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is fully recognized andcommunicated• GBIF’s use in policy and decision processes is enhanced through partnerships and better
communicatedIndicative tasks for 2023
• Negotiate renewal of GBIF-IPBES Memorandum of Understanding• Work with IPBES Data and Knowledge Task Force to pilot attribution of assessment findings to
GBIF-mediated datasets through DOI citations; and to catalyse funding support for data
mobilization in response to knowledge gaps
• Develop joint communications with IPBES Secretariat to support the release of global invasive
alien species assessment• Collaborate with Biodiversa+ to establish GBIF’s role in supporting the EU Biodiversity Strategy
for 2030• Pilot the use of additional citation-tracking services to capture and communicate further
examples of use of GBIF-mediated data in policy, including through the Overton searchable
index of policy documents

5Activity 2.4: Support nature-positive outcomes fromprivate-sector decisions
Projected outcomes for 2027
• Lending agreements prepared by financial institutions and public development banks include
clear and unequivocal requirements for sharing biodiversity data
• Private companies, trade associations and consultancies in all global regions recognize GBIF as
the preferred platform to share primary biodiversity data gathered through impact assessments
and monitoring

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Advance the Data4Nature initiative in collaboration with Agence Française de Développement
and other public development banks, including the World Bank
• Engage the Equator Principles Association to implement and strengthen its recommendations tobanks regarding their clients’ sharing of biodiversity data
• Work with consultants to develop simplified tools to support standardized data capture andsharing from environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs), as well as recommendations
for use of primary biodiversity data in generation of ESIAs• Support node managers in engaging with and mobilizing data from the private sector, based on
guidance developed through CESP projects, and develop options for a GBIF private-sector help
desk

Ongoing activities to support policy and partnerships• Attend CBD meetings and engagement in consultations and working groups as an observerinter-governmental organization• Attend IPBES plenary meetings and actively engage in the IPBES Task Force on Data andKnowledge and its respective working groups, as well as the IPBES Task Force on Capacity
Building, in GBIF’s role as an IPBES strategic partner• Engage with GEO BON through participation in the Advisory Board and partnerships with
regional and thematic BONs
• Continue engagement with IUCN to implement the Memorandum of Cooperation, including
regular imports of checklist data from the Red List of Threatened Species and the Global Registerof Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS)• Coordinate and facilitate multi-partner activities through the alliance for biodiversity knowledge,
based on governance and collaboration models developed during 2022
• Continue partnership with Catalogue of Life (COL) to address the governance of species lists andimprove their fitness and value for conservation and policy

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Priority Area 3: Community and Capacity
Developing the GBIF network to meet future needs and challenges

Activity 3.1: Make the business case for GBIF
Projected outcomes for 2027
• The Secretariat, nodes and Heads of Delegation are equipped with robust materials todemonstrate GBIF’s value for money• Additional countries join or return to GBIF as Voting Participants• Additional funding agencies or foundations commit supplementary funds to support GBIF
activities as part of the resource mobilization strategy

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Disseminate findings of the economic valuation of the GBIF network commissioned from Deloitte
Access Economics• Develop communication materials that outline GBIF’s value in virtual and in-person events,
including the 2023 Global Nodes Meeting and GB30
• Design a new model for a GBIF Annual Report focused on progress towards the outcomes
outlined in this implementation plan, both through the global work programme and the activities
of nodesActivity 3.2: Support and strengthen GBIF nodes
Projected outcomes for 2027
• GBIF nodes provide a strong and stable foundation for data mobilization and use through the
network• The role of GBIF nodes as hubs for data mobilization and use is better understood andsupported, especially at national level

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Develop a peer-to-peer training curriculum for nodes covering key aspects of node functions• Organize training sessions at the 2023 Global Nodes Meeting addressing needs raised by thenodes committee, such strengthening data use, improved collaboration between nodes and
HoDs, and collaboration with national focal points of other intergovernmental initiatives• Publish analysis of risks and benefits of publishing sensitive species data, and develop associatedguidance and recommendations for nodes

7Activity 3.3: Expand and strengthen national
participation
Projected outcomes for 2027
• GBIF national participation is expanded across currently under-represented regions, G20
economies and megadiverse nations• Current Associate Participants have agreed pathways towards achieving or returning to voting
participation

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Develop a Participation and Engagement strategy aligned with the GBIF capacity framework andresource mobilization strategy that outline clear roles for the Secretariat, nodes and nationaldelegations• As a component of the Participation and Engagement strategy, promote and extend specificservices exclusive to national members as an incentive to become or remain a GBIF Participant,e.g. national hosted portals, and develop ‘onboarding’ activities for new Participants as well as
periodic ‘refresher’ events for existing Participants• Building on the outcomes of the 2022 GBIF Asia Summit, develop a specific strategy forenhancing GBIF activity in the region at both national and institutional levels• Organize an in-person engagement event to target countries in the Arabic-speaking regions(North Africa and West Asia)• Continue funding of contracted regional support staff in Asia and Africa, and explore options for
expanding contracted support staff in Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia,and the Pacific

Activity 3.4: Develop capacity and skills
Projected outcomes for 2027
• GBIF’s ongoing capacity support programmes are successfully concluded, and new support
programmes are scoped• Additional training and guidance resources are available to the community in multiple languages
covering both data mobilization and data use

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Conclude the current Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) and Biodiversity
Information Fund for Asia (BIFA) programmes with completion of projects in sub-Saharan Africa,
the Caribbean, Pacific and Asia, with final reporting to respective funders in the EU, the JRS
Biodiversity Foundation and the Ministry of Environment, Government of Japan• Organize and hold an end event for the current BID programme to communicate impact of the
projects and proposals for successor activities8• Following publication of the external BID review, consult with community on proposed scope forfollow-up capacity programmes covering multiple regions and with multiple funding sources• Conclude projects funded under the current Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia programme(BIFA), and explore options for a follow-up capacity support programme in Asia
• Based on needs evaluated through the GBIF capacity enhancement framework, scope additional
training modules to enhance and expand existing training curricula• Following an evaluation of its first year of operation, refine the GBIF Data Use Club• Support training needs for mobilization of DNA-derived data, including through the BioDATA
Advanced programme focussed on South Africa and Norway

Ongoing activities to support community and capacity• Organize annual calls for projects under the Capacity Enhancement Support Programme (CESP)• Continue to support proposals for hosted portals, and to support the Living Atlases community
including contribution towards the cost of a technical coordinator• Provide ongoing support for documentation, including formatting and translation capabilities• Operate effective communication channels that produce and disseminate news items andthematic content on GBIF.org and in social media, regular opt-in and publisher newsletters, andongoing communications to the nodes• Continue cycle of biennial Global Nodes Meetings co-located with Governing Board meetings• Organize events to engage GBIF Heads of Delegation and node managers attending otherinternational meetings including through the CBD and IPBES• Coordinate work of volunteer mentors, ambassadors and regional support contractors• Support Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) community through financial andorganizational contributions towards annual meetings

Priority Area 4: Infrastructure and data
products
Maintain and evolve infrastructure to advance biodiversity-related knowledge

Activity 4.1: Enhance robustness of the core GBIF
infrastructure
Projected outcomes for 2027
• GBIF-maintained software and informatics infrastructure provides high, ongoing levels ofavailability and performance that keep pace with growth in data publication and use

9Indicative tasks for 2023
• Address "technical debt" in software and infrastructure• Plan capacity and hardware procurement to accommodate growth in volume and use of data
• Provide environments for development and network-wide testing, particularly related to indexing
under revised data standards• Maintain GBIF R (rgbif) and Python (pygbif) libraries to follow changes in GBIF public interfaces• Replace Google Analytics with a more personal privacy-focused web analytics package• Replace the Cloudera Data Warehouse with an open-source alternative• Monitor carbon footprint of GBIF services

Activity 4.2: Enhance support services for data
publishers and users
Projected outcomes for 2027
• The expanding GBIF community of users are fully supported by a responsive help desk team andimproved technical documentation• The taxonomic and collections communities benefit from improvements in GBIF support to the
Global Registry of Scientific Collections (GRSciColl) and the Catalogue of Life

Indicative tasks for 2023
• Expand the distributed help desk team, including through use of the regional support
contractors• Assess taxonomic data gaps and provide summary reports on them to the Catalogue of Life
• Improve technical documentation for data publishing guidelines, data processing, common tools
and tutorials, and reference APIs
• Support increased content curation on GRSciColl, coordination of the editor and user
communities, and data import and synchronization processes

Activity 4.3: Enhance features and capabilities of the
GBIF infrastructure
Projected outcomes for 2027
• Improved user interface to GBIF.org• Improved capabilities for GBIF to handle ecological, collections, and phylogenetic data
• Data reuse increased through more stable GBIF identifiers

10Indicative tasks for 2023
• Align interfaces, functionality and software used in GBIF.org, hosted portals, the shared data
pipeline project and the Living Atlases• Improve GBIF network pages, presentations of regions, and accommodate community-provided
content• Improve ability for users to filter based on content types (e.g. citizen science, eDNA)• Further develop capabilities for event-based search following prototype co-developed with theAtlas of Living Australia• Implement a material catalogue to capture specimen information exposed in the new data model• Enrich GRSciColl through integration of collection description information, compatible with the
Latimer Core schema, to support use cases such as priorities for data mobilization• Allow downloads of data published to any Darwin Core extension• Implement tools and policies to address content changes in the Catalogue of Life• Develop tools to align a filtered subset of GBIF-mediated data with a phylogeny, an exemplar
workflow to showcase phylogenetic organization of a dataset using sequence-based
identification, and ability to run phylogenetic diversity metrics from GBIF-mediated datasets• Explore approaches to annotation capabilities in GBIF.org that enable data corrections,enrichments and user-provided rules that combine taxonomic, geographic and temporal
combinations to detect suspicious records• Define and implement procedures to improve the stability of identifiers associated with records
published through GBIF

Activity 4.4: Drive data standards development
Projected outcomes for 2027
• The revised GBIF data model is matured and applicable for use• All controlled terms used in GBIF processing are managed in the vocabulary serverIndicative tasks for 2023
• Refine the revised unified data model developed during consultations in 2022
• Develop documentation and communication material for the revised data model, prepare asubmission to Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG), and establish an appropriate
maintenance group• Enhance the GBIF Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) to support data publishing using therevised data model, and emerging formats such as the Catalogue of Life Data Package and
CamTrapDP for camera-trap data
• Mature the tools and processes around maintenance of the vocabulary server, including growing
the community of vocabulary editors and aligning vocabularies with relevant ontologies for therevised data model11

Ongoing activities to support infrastructure and data
products• Software maintenance (upgrades, bug fixes, capture and handling of change requests, addedfunctionality) and user support (IPT, hosted portals, GBIF.org, GRSciColl, registry, ChecklistBank
and taxonomic backbone builds)• Hardware maintenance (purchases, installation, supervision/monitoring, optimization, operation
planning, screening of future needs)• Infrastructure upgrades to the latest possible versions of widely used frameworks and cluster
technology (web services stack, search engines, distributed data platforms)• Systems support (monitoring and remediation of risks from technical debt, operational
supervision and issue handling)• In-house support (error diagnostics, installation support, load tracking, training)• General help desk support through email and GitHub• Data user support (maintenance of rgbif and pygbif libraries, custom downloads, API use) andpublisher support (IPT, data formats, error diagnostics, custom metrics); training support
through webinars, individual appointments, documentation, videos and workshops

Colophon
Suggested citation
GBIF Work Programme 2023: Annual Update to Implementation Plan 2023–2027 (2022) GBIF
Secretariat: Copenhagen. https://doi.org/10.35035/doc-cvcq-rs47

Persistent URI
https://doi.org/10.35035/doc-cvcq-rs47

Document control
Final version, approved at the 29th Meeting of the GBIF Governing Board, October 202212