DSI Webinar October 2020

Ahead of the next negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on Digital Sequence Information (DSI), the WiLDSI project released a white paper entitled “Finding Compromise on ABS & DSI in the CBD: Requirements & Policy Ideas from a Scientific Perspective”. The white paper, undertaken by a group of interdisciplinary experts, looks at what policy options could be compatible with scientific concerns around open access and the debates on DSI within the CBD. The online event presented the white paper and provided an interactive format for looking at the pros and cons of the policy options as well as offer an opportunity for discussion.

The October 7 event gathered approximately 410 attendees from 53 countries worldwide. According to the participants, the affiliation that represented most of their role, or was the reason for attending the webinar, was: government representative (32.9%); public sector researcher - DSI users (26.1%); public sector researcher - non-DSI user (11.3%); private sector researcher - DSI user (4.5%); private sector researcher - non-DSI users (3.6%); NGO/Civil society sector (9%); and other affiliations (12.6%).

During the event, the attendees also answered a poll about which of the scientific priorities presented was the most relevant to them. The option “Maintain open access for researchers” received the majority of the votes (48,6%), followed by “Provide legal certainty to users on ABS obligations & Parties on compliance” (27.6%). 14% of the respondents voted for “One system (not two) for users to comply with DSI’s ABS requirements and with the ABS requirements for the genetic resources used to generate DSI One”. “Ensure low transaction costs (simplicity)” and “Be compatible with increase in data volume, users and exchanges (future proof)” received 7.4% and 2.5% of the total votes.