ISTC Overview
INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION (ISTC) The Information Science & Technology Commission (ISTC) is part of European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT) which is funded by the European Union’s Sixth Framework Programme Sub-priority 1.1.6.3 “Global Change and Ecosystems”, Network of Excellence. Within EDIT, the ISTC is organised by Work-Package 5 (WP5) An Internet Platform for Cybertaxonomy under the work-package milestone (M5.1.3) which states:
“Informatics Committee: Setting up an Informatics Committee to facilitate the dialogue and collaboration between I & IT [IST] departments and to act as the key body proposing procedural changes and adaptations. Ensure interoperability through an infrastructure built on services, ensure (as far as possible) compatibility of components to ease replicated installations. Develop mechanisms for the certification of EDIT platform components” (EDIT Annex I - “Description of Work” p. 116).
The ISTC reports act only as a guideline towards formal agreements on the integration of IT resources between EDIT partner institutions. The report is a result of the first ISTC meeting held at the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, November 2006.
Responsibilities of the ISTC The ISTC aims to guide informatics integration and development in the EDIT project. It consists of staff members from most EDIT partner institutions (not project personnel). The scope of questions that ISTC aims to address are:
- Possibilities to share IT resources.
- Debate the mechanisms for EDIT certification of taxonomic software tools.
- Advise on priorities for WP5 development tasks.
The ISTC meet once a year to ensure timely input for the planning of the next period of the EDIT project.