The e-Biosphere 09 Informatics Challenge
The organizers of the e-Biosphere 09 International Conference on Biodiversity Informatics issue the following challenge to researchers and users of biodiversity information:
Prepare and present a real-time demonstration during the days of the Conference of the capabilities in your community of practice to discover, disseminate, integrate, and explore new biodiversity-related data by:
In Brief...
Challengers can register by describing their submissions on the OCC.They will need to produce:
- A challenge website
- Workflow Flowchart
- Powerpoint slides that explain their entry, and illustrate progress along the workflow.
On the last day of the conference, participants will vote for winning submissions.
- Capturing data in private and public databases;
- Conducting quality assurance on the data by automated validation and/or peer review;
- Indexing, linking and/or automatically submitting the new data records to other relevant databases;
- Integrating the data with other databases and data streams;
- Making these data available to relevant audiences;
- Make the data and links to the data widely accessible; and
- Offering interfaces for users to query or explore the data.
Instructions to Challengers
Teams are invited to register their interest by posting on the Online Conference Community (OCC). Questions may be sent to Challenge Coordinator Joel Sachs.
Before the Conference
Website: Each team will be asked to prepare a website describing their response to the Challenge; any background information they want to share; and a flowchart representing the workflow that will be demonstrated during the conference.
The website of each team will be linked to the Conference website, so Conference attendees can study them and follow their progress using the wireless internet access provided during the Conference.
Flowchart: Flowcharts should illustrate the key steps and results of their process. As demonstrated by this example, flowcharts should be designed so that steps and progress are clear and evident. A key for all symbols used should be included. These symbols are available for challengers to use.
During the conference
Rolling updates in the form of Powerpoint slideshows will be shown on displays in the conference hall during lunch and coffee breaks, providing attendees with the opportunity to follow the progress of each team in real-time.
Slideshows: Challengers will need to prepare a series of timed, narrated PowerPoint slideshows that will be updated throughout the Conference to show the progress that the team is making along the flowchart. Teams can update their slides as they see fit throughout the conference. Slides can simply contain URLs of web pages that illustrate progress made, or they can contain summarization and narration.
After the Challenge
At the end of the Conference, attendees will be asked to participate in a web-based ballot to select the teams that demonstrated:
- Best overall submission
- Greatest relevance to Biodiversity Informatics
- Most innovative use of technology
All Challengers will be asked to submit a manuscript, and instructions regarding formatting details will be provided shortly.
To Register Your Entry
Describe your submission on the OCC. If others see a way that your submission could integrate with theirs, they may propose a partnership.
