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Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of the most remarkable men of his time. Scientist, inventor, statesman, he freely and openly shared his ideas and refused to patent his inventions. It is the opinion of the founders of the Bioinformatics Organization, Inc. that he embodied the best traits of a scientist, and the Bioinformatics Organization seeks to honor those who share these virtues.

James L. Edwards, currently Executive Director of the Encyclopedia of Life, and from 2002 - 2007 the Executive Secretary of GBIF, is one of six nominees for this award for 2008.

Members of the Bioinformatics Organization vote online by 15 February 2008 to select the awardee.

Membership in the Bioinformatics Organization is free, and quickly obtained online. This open-source, open-access organization was started with practitioners of molecular bioinformatics in mind. However, biodiversity informatics and its techniques and practitioners could also benefit from joining.

The 2008 Franklin awardee will be honored at the Bio-IT World Conference and Expo 2008, which will be held at the World Trade Center in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, from 28 - 30 April. He will join previous awardees Michael B. Eisen, Michael Ashburner, and others.

Bioinformatics.Org was established in 1998 as a place to host collaborations in bioinformatics. In 2000, the Organization had more than 100 members and a dozen projects. The Organization became incorporated in 2003 and currently has about 25,000 members and over 300 projects. Bioinformatics.Org is now one of the largest affiliations in the field of bioinformatics, and the number of resources that it offers is on-par with the number offered by NCBI and EBI.

However, Bioinformatics.Org is distinctive in its open membership and project hosting: anyone, anywhere can participate.