Global Forest InformationService

Risto PäivinenEuropean Forest Institute

IUFRO GFIS Task Force coordinator

41st IUFRO Board MeetingVancouver, BC,June 15, 2002

United Nations Conference on Environment andDevelopment in 1992 ,Agenda 21, Chapter 40:

"Countries and organisations should exploit variousinitiatives for electronic links to support information

sharing, to provide access to databases and otherinformation sources, to facilitate communication for

meeting broader objectives, such as the implementationof Agenda 21. “

GLOBAL MANDATE:

The Intergovernmental Forum on Forests urgedinternational organizations, donor countries and financial

institutions to enhance access to forest-relatedinformation and …

to work with IUFRO in exploring possibilities for aglobal forest information service.

(February 2000)

1060

500 500

350 340

265 250

50

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Google Webto p Inktomi AltaVista Fast NorthernLight

Excite Go

Search engine sizes (compared 6.6.2000)

millionindexedURLs

Source: SearchEngineWatch.com

1000 mill. sites found, 550 000 mill. exists !

Population online

Problem : locating relevant information sources

corresponding to the needs

IUFRO Task Force develops an

Internet-based metadata service

to provide co-ordinated world-wide access to

forest-related information.

Global Forest Information Service:

A Network of Forest-Related Databases

UserUser

User

User

User

UserUser

4.Data/informationA

3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata

$

4.Data/informationB

4.Data/informationC

4.Data/informationD

4.Data/informationE

5.Housekeeping functions - informationserver

Assisting information Server

Data/information

Resource Discovery and Analysis

Metadata

Internet

Resource Discovery

.

Discovery

AnalysisToolbox

UserUser

User

User

User

UserUser

4.Data/informationA

3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata

$

4.Data/informationB

4.Data/informationC

4.Data/informationD

4.Data/informationE

5.Housekeeping functions - informationserver

Resource Discovery

.

Discovery

AnalysisToolbox

3.Metadata

4.Data/informationD

1. Data provision

UserUser

User

User

User

UserUser

4.Data/informationA

3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata

$

4.Data/informationB

4.Data/informationC

4.Data/informationD

4.Data/informationE

5.Housekeeping functions - informationserver

Resource Discovery

.

Discovery

AnalysisToolbox

User

AnalysisToolbox

Resource Discovery

3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata

Discovery

3.Metadata

4.Data/informationB

Resource Discovery

AnalysisToolbox

Resource Discovery

Resource Discovery

2.

UserUser

User

User

User

UserUser

4.Data/informationA

3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata 3.Metadata

$

4.Data/informationB

4.Data/informationC

4.Data/informationD

4.Data/informationE

5.Housekeeping functions - informationserver

Resource Discovery

Discovery

AnalysisToolbox

3.Metadata 3.Metadata

AnalysisToolbox 3. Analysis

toolbox

4.Data/informationB

User

3.Metadata

Resource Discovery

AnalysisToolbox

Collection Policy defines:

subject coverage, target audience, types of resources to be included, submission procedure, quality assessment, metadata standards and maintenance arrangements.

GFIS IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

Funds for implementing GFIS from varioussources

Task Force: Provide recommendations for IUFRO Board on strategic and

conceptual matters Advise GFIS Special Programme in implementation of the GFIS

IUFRO GFIS special programme co-ordinatesthe projects

GFIS-Related Ongoing Projects

Mobilizing Scientific Information on Forests toPromote Their Sustainable Management in ACPCountries

Establishment of five Global Forest InformationService nodes in Africa

GFIS projects...

European Forest Information System prototype

EC-JRC funded, January 2001-March 2002

by EFI, Frauenhofer Inst. TU Dresden, WCMC

U.S. Adaptive Management Area’s Information Portal

Information gateway for forest research sites in US Pacific Northwest

A Proposal to the World BankInformation for Development Program

(infoDev Activity Proposal)

Enhancing access to scientific information to promotesustainable forestry

in Latin America(Within the framework the Global Forest Information Service)

December 2001

A GFIS –Asia proposal :discussed with Prof. Don Koo Lee and Prof Youn,

for submission to the South Korean Ministry of ForeignAffairs and Trade.

GFIS development phases

1. Concept development 1996-2001

2. Prototyping 2001-2002GFIS Launch in Copenhagen in August 2002

3. Implementation 2003 -

Metadata standards further developed Dublin core -> qualified fields: contribution by

IUFRO Working Parties welcome! Data Provision

start with IUFRO members and bibligraphic

Future activities

Technical solutions refined for a global prototype Technical development outside GFIS Contribution by the associated projects (EFIS,NEFIS...) IUFRO HQ activities

• Organisation: IUFRO TF, SP, HQ, SC, - associates

President andPresident andIUFRO BoardIUFRO Board

Special ProgrammeSpecial ProgrammeCoordinator GFISCoordinator GFIS Administration

IUFRO Secretariat

TechnicalCoordinator

(Binh)

NodeCoordinator

Project[Coordinator]

Content[Coordinator]

GFISLatin America

GFISAfrica

GFIS……

EFIS NEFIS

GFIS Task ForceBibliographic

SubgroupTechnicalSubgroup

BusinessSubgroup

User NeedsSubgroup

GLOBAL FOREST INFORMATION SERVICEGLOBAL FOREST INFORMATION SERVICE

STEERING COMMITTEE

Three strategies for populating GFIS

1. Self-registration 0,5 – 1 M USD/year2. Nodal level 2-4 M USD3. Roving Resources Discovery high cost

Low cost –> uncertainties in sustainability, quantity and and quality of the service

More information:

http://www.iufro-gfis.net/