The Inaugural GBIF Ebbe Nielsen Challenge
The inaugural GBIF Ebbe Nielsen Challenge aims to inspire scientists, informaticians, data modelers, cartographers and other experts to create innovative applications of open-access biodiversity data.
For the past 12 years, GBIF has awarded the Ebbe Nielsen Prize [1] to recognize outstanding contributions to biodiversity informatics while honouring the legacy of Ebbe Nielsen [2], one of the principal founders of GBIF, who tragically died just before it came into being.
The Science Committee [3], working with the Secretariat, has revamped the award for 2015 as the GBIF Ebbe Nielsen Challenge. This open incentive competition seeks to encourage innovative uses of the more than half a billion species occurrence records mobilized through GBIF’s international network. These creative applications of GBIF-mediated data may come in a wide variety of forms and formats—new analytical research, richer policy-relevant visualizations, web and mobile applications, improvements to processes around data digitization, quality and access, or something else entirely. Judges will evaulate submissions on their innovation, functionality and applicability.
As a simple point of departure, participants may wish to review the visual analyses of trends in mobilizing species occurrence data at global and national scales [4] recently unveiled on GBIF.org. Challenge submissions may build on such creations and propose uses or extensions that make GBIF-mediated data even more useful to researchers, policymakers, educators, students and citizens alike.
A jury composed of experts from the biodiversity informatics community [5] will judge the Round One entries collected through this ChallengePost website on their innovation, functionality and applicability, before selecting three to six finalists to compete for a €20,000 First Prize later in 2015.