Finnish biodiversity information management inspires globally | EurekAlert! Science News

The Finnish solution to include all types of biodiversity data and the whole data life cycle, from collection to use, in the same data infrastructure is unique. It is also rare for one infrastructure to be able to serve cutting-edge research, public administration, business and the civil society simultaneously. This solution, the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility "FinBIF" is described as a best-practice model in biodiversity informatics in a recent paper in the Nature Portfolio journal Scientific Data.

FinBIF is also a leader in open data distribution. Considerable effort has been put into implementing a data policy that is as open as possible. FinBIF has even received a national award for this work. However, not quite all the data can be openly shared, since the law prohibits the disclosure of occurrence data that could harm the conservation status of endangered species. The discoverability of the data is, nevertheless, important, and this has been a focus at FinBIF. The sensitive data, too, is findable and can be obtained for research upon request by using nationally agreed principles and a data request service.