Recognizing the value of biocollections for research, education, and society, the biocollections community coalesced in 2010 to develop A Strategic Plan for Establishing a Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance (NIBA). The plan issues a strong and urgent call for an aggressive, coordinated, large-scale, and sustained effort to digitize the nation's biocollections in order to mobilize their data through the Internet. In 2012, the biocollections community recognized a need for an implementation plan that explicitly identified the corresponding actions, timelines, and milestones required to achieve the goals of the Strategic Plan. Funding for a Research Coordination Network entitled "Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance (NIBA): Organizing, Coordinating, Sustaining" was received in 2014 to accomplish some of the proposed goals. In 2015 the NIBA Research Coordination Network changed its name to the "Biodiversity Collections Network" (BCoN).
