Mission
KBIF’s vision is to be the multi-lateral support organization for national biodiversity research in Creative Economy Korea.
KBIF’s missions are (1) establishing a National Data Network for biodiversity research & information flow; (2) training, and disseminating key technology to assist data publishers for sharing data; (3) acting roles in GBIF governance structures, including the NODES Committee; (4) operating the KBIF Data Portal, communication portal and, outreach and capacity building, liaison and promoting 'Becoming a GBIF Data Publisher’; (5) developing tools, Data Portal and Data Repository, KBIF Schema, metadata; and (6) operating GBIF data portal mirroring global service.
Funding
The KBIF node is operated by a yearly-based project, supported by National Science Museum in the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT).
As a Voting Participant, the basic financial contribution to GBIF is made by the Multilateral Cooperation Division, International Cooperation Bureau, MSIT.
History
The Korean Biodiversity Information Facility (KBIF) was established early in 2002. Functionally, however, the KBIF secretariat was launched in 2006 at the National Science Museum by regulations of the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Korean government. KBIF actively participates and communicates through the GBIF global network, publishing data contributed by member institutions from the National Biodiversity Institutions Consortium (NBIC). NBIC is comprised of 57 biodiversity research organizations including natural history museums, arboretums and universities. Membership in NBIC (by Memorandum of Understanding) has increased from 16 members in 2007 to 57 members in 2019, resulting in increased biodiversity research and data sharing through KBIF.
Structure
The National Science Museum serves as a the secretariat of KBIF. KBIF cooperates with the National Biodiversity Institution Consortium (NBIC) that comprises 57 biodiversity research organizations as of Sep 2019 under the related ministries such as Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Korea Forest Service, Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, etc. KBIF is develops and shares the national biodiversity data contributed by 37 data providers (institutions) from the NBIC.