The Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility FinBIF receives, stores and manages biodiversity data mobilised in Finland, and shares the data through its own portal (species.fi) and through Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF. FinBIF's data policy (data policy) embraces the European FAIR data principles (FAIR - Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable; Wilkinson (2016)) but also incorporates specific restrictions stemming from national legislation, researchers' needs, and data owners' requirements. Here, we describe how the necessary, due to various reasons from sensitivity of the data to research embargo, restrictions to openness have been defined and implemented on the policy level and in technical data infrastructure solutions. We hope to contribute to an improvement of data management in the international biodiversity data infrastructures. In Finland, the law prohibits public authorities from distributing occurrence data if this causes increased threat to endangered species. However, neither the definition of 'endangered species' nor guidelines for the evaluation of potential risk by openness of data are formulated. To enable mobilisation of datasets containing information on endangered species, FinBIF convened a task force commissioned to set rules on data distribution, which respect the spirit of the law. The task force consisted of representatives of relevant data holding authorities and it consulted a wide group of taxon experts and the species information community. First, a list of species, judged to be among those targeted by the spirit of the law, was created (sensitive species data). Then the rules of restriction were decided on for each of the species. Measures of restriction ranged from complete non-disclosure of data to temporal and spatial restrictions. The identified safeguards concerning the sensitive data management in all use cases led us to create a series of innovative solutions Researchers often wish to restrict the openness of data they have gathered for research purposes ...
The Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility FinBIF receives, stores and manages biodiversity data mobilised in Finland, and shares the data through its own portal (species.fi) and through Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF. FinBIF's data policy (data policy) embraces the European FAIR data principles (FAIR - Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable; Wilkinson (2016)) but also incorporates specific restrictions stemming from national legislation, researchers' needs, and data owners' requirements. Here, we describe how the necessary, due to various reasons from sensitivity of the data to research embargo, restrictions to openness have been defined and implemented on the policy level and in technical data infrastructure solutions. We hope to contribute to an improvement of data management in the international biodiversity data infrastructures. In Finland, the law prohibits public authorities from distributing occurrence data if this causes increased threat to endangered species. However, neither the definition of 'endangered species' nor guidelines for the evaluation of potential risk by openness of data are formulated. To enable mobilisation of datasets containing information on endangered species, FinBIF convened a task force commissioned to set rules on data distribution, which respect the spirit of the law. The task force consisted of representatives of relevant data holding authorities and it consulted a wide group of taxon experts and the species information community. First, a list of species, judged to be among those targeted by the spirit of the law, was created (sensitive species data). Then the rules of restriction were decided on for each of the species. Measures of restriction ranged from complete non-disclosure of data to temporal and spatial restrictions. The identified safeguards concerning the sensitive data management in all use cases led us to create a series of innovative solutions Researchers often wish to restrict the openness of data they have gathered for research purposes These restrictions include embargo periods, limitations on the precision of data and controls on how the data is used. In many cases, however, researchers are willing to allow unrestricted official use of their data in certain cases such as for conservation management or land use planning. In these cases they will often allow storage and restricted use of exact data without an embargo. The same may be true for other data owners, such as nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) or private citizens. To support restrictions to openness, while simultaneously securing mobilisation of valuable datasets, FinBIF applies data sharing contracts including, as a rule, a precondition to share the original data with the public authorities for official use under the Creative Commons 4.0 BY -licence (CC 4.0 BY). The technical solution to enabling the rather complex data policy is that FinBIF stores the collated data in two separate data warehouses: a public one for the distribution of fully open data and temporally and spatially coarsened sensitive data, alongside another containing all data but with restricted access to authorised users. In addition, to allow case-by-case release of restricted data, FinBIF has developed a data request function (Fig. 1). When users of the open data retrieve a dataset using, e.g., taxonomic and spatial filtering, they receive a search result stating whether there are restricted data available based on the filters used. In these cases a user can issue a data request, automatically distributed to all owners of data contained in the collated data batch. Agreeing on the principles about how to apply restrictions to data openness and how to define authoritative use, has not been easy given the lack of precedents. It has required thorough and inclusive consultation with both state administration, conservation practitioners, scientific specialists and lawyers. The two main cultural constraints to overcome have been (1) embracing the FAIR principles of truly 'as open as possible' and only 'as closed as (absolutely) necessary (European Commission 2016); and, perhaps surprisingly, (2) figuring out novel ways to work across different state administrative sectors to share data.
The Nagoya Protocol (NP) of the Convention on Biological Diversity requires that genetic resource holders and users obtain, preserve and keep relevant documentation. Users and third parties need to be informed on terms of access, which utilisation is allowed, and which benefits need to be shared when respective genetic resources or associated traditional knowledge is utilised in the meaning of the NP. Following the recommendations in the Code of Conduct & Best Practices of the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) CETAF Legislations and Regulations Liaison Group 2019, institutions should implement appropriate data management systems to support compliance with the protocol and keep records on acquisition of biological material, utilization of genetic resources, transfers to third parties, benefits derived and shared, and deaccessioning of specimens or disposal of consumed samples. Here we describe how we have implemented the first set of tools to meet the NP requirements in the Kotka Collection Management System (CMS), which is used by eleven Natural History Museums in Finland. The Kotka CMS is used for storing and managing specimen data and for handling material transactions (loans, exchanges, donations and consumptive loans). Users can enter and store all necessary documentation for both incoming and outgoing material as material transactions, which hold information on e.g., the transaction type, description of the material, important dates, correspondent organization and contact person. Specimens are linked to transactions by their unique identifiers and each transaction also has a unique stable identifier. The first version of the tools for meeting the requirements of the Nagoya protocol on both in situ and ex situ accession of genetic resources have been integrated into the transaction section of the system. For genetic resource users to be able to enter, save and provide all the required information about an incoming genetic resource, we have implemented a set of fields to be completed in ...
The Nagoya Protocol (NP) of the Convention on Biological Diversity requires that genetic resource holders and users obtain, preserve and keep relevant documentation. Users and third parties need to be informed on terms of access, which utilisation is allowed, and which benefits need to be shared when respective genetic resources or associated traditional knowledge is utilised in the meaning of the NP. Following the recommendations in the Code of Conduct & Best Practices of the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) CETAF Legislations and Regulations Liaison Group 2019, institutions should implement appropriate data management systems to support compliance with the protocol and keep records on acquisition of biological material, utilization of genetic resources, transfers to third parties, benefits derived and shared, and deaccessioning of specimens or disposal of consumed samples. Here we describe how we have implemented the first set of tools to meet the NP requirements in the Kotka Collection Management System (CMS), which is used by eleven Natural History Museums in Finland. The Kotka CMS is used for storing and managing specimen data and for handling material transactions (loans, exchanges, donations and consumptive loans). Users can enter and store all necessary documentation for both incoming and outgoing material as material transactions, which hold information on e.g., the transaction type, description of the material, important dates, correspondent organization and contact person. Specimens are linked to transactions by their unique identifiers and each transaction also has a unique stable identifier. The first version of the tools for meeting the requirements of the Nagoya protocol on both in situ and ex situ accession of genetic resources have been integrated into the transaction section of the system. For genetic resource users to be able to enter, save and provide all the required information about an incoming genetic resource, we have implemented a set of fields to be completed in the transactions in Kotka CMS (Fig. 1). Users can record, for example, a possible IRCC number (Internationally Recognized Certificate of Compliance), acquisition date and providing country, description of the material, information on Prior Informed Consent, Mutually Agreed Terms, Material Transfer Agreement and other possible permits. The Finnish genomic resource legislation requires a notification within one month of acquisition to the Competent National Authority (CNA; The Finnish Environment Institute and Natural Resources Institute Finland) for any imported genetic resources. The required data for the notification is compiled in Kotka CMS and then sent to the CNA. All the documentation and conditions regulating the utilisation of each specimen and derived samples must follow with the specimen data at all times. To accomplish this all the necessary information and documents are linked from the material transactions to the relevant specimens by unique specimen or sample identifiers. In the specimen view page, links to the full transaction details and history are given, as a single specimen or a derived sample can be part of several different types of transactions. Users also see a summary of the transaction information directly in the specimen view, most importantly whether the specimen is available for genetic research or has any restrictions for use. The Kotka CMS transaction section makes use of the Application Programming Interface (API) provided by the Access and Benefit Sharing Clearing House (ABS-CH). Using the API, Kotka CMS validates the IRCC number if given and provides links to the ABS-CH, for example to the relevant country profile page, the contact details of the CNA, and specific requirements for access to genetic resources when applicable. This way, we provide Kotka CMS users up-to-date information from the original source to support their genetic resource management. We will further improve and develop the tools during the years 2019-2020. Now that the first version is in use, we will make adjustments according to user feedback. We also have a few changes planned, for example, the tools for transferring the necessary information on permits and other details with outgoing specimens to a user in another institution abroad will be updated. All users in Finnish natural history institutions have access to all the information directly in Kotka CMS, as it is a national system. Additionally, both specimen and transaction information searchability will be refined.
