Presentation to the NatSCA Annual Conference 2024. Abstract:The Distributed System of Scientific Collections UK (DiSSCo UK) is the national plan to revolutionise how we share and use UK natural science collections, creating a distributed network that provides a step change in research infrastructure and collections impact. There are more than one billion natural science specimens worldwide, and some 10% of those are managed in the UK. They are the physical basis for understanding the natural world and our place in it. Making these collections digitally accessible is key to unlocking this potential.
We will share the latest progress on DiSSCo UK planning and funding, led by the Natural History Museum in collaboration with the Arts & Humanities Research Council as part of the UKRI infrastructure programme. We’ll discuss how this will offer opportunities for training, digitisation and data mobilisation for collections of all sizes across the UK. We will highlight the resources developed to date, including insights into the collections; training materials; economic impact research; and a UK data portal and data publishing tools (working with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility). We will discuss how the community can help to shape the programme as we develop the Treasury business case, and how together we can be much more than the sum of our parts.
We will share the latest progress on DiSSCo UK planning and funding, led by the Natural History Museum in collaboration with the Arts & Humanities Research Council as part of the UKRI infrastructure programme. We’ll discuss how this will offer opportunities for training, digitisation and data mobilisation for collections of all sizes across the UK. We will highlight the resources developed to date, including insights into the collections; training materials; economic impact research; and a UK data portal and data publishing tools (working with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility). We will discuss how the community can help to shape the programme as we develop the Treasury business case, and how together we can be much more than the sum of our parts.