The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Megascience Forum Working Group on Biological Informatics will hold its third meeting in Canberra starting tomorrow.
"Megascience" refers to research efforts which are too big, too costly or too complex to be dealt with by single governments.
The OECD Megascience meeting, at CSIRO headquarters in Canberra from 29 April to 2 May, will be chaired by Dr Jim Edwards of the US National Science Foundation. The Forum will discuss ways of strengthening international co-operation in the development of computer-based information systems, an integral part of biological research.
OECD Science Ministers formed the Megascience Forum in 1992 to remove barriers to effective international scientific co-operation on megascience. Other Working Groups, besides biological informatics, included barriers to access to megascience facilities.
"Some of the most important problems being considered by scientist today can only be addressed by developing very expensive programs. An elementary particle detector, for instance, can cost billions of dollars!" said Dr Edwards.
"In developed countries such as members of the OECD, when costs of this order are involved, the consent of taxpayers must be secured. Megascience efforts are thus political issues, and science must take its turn with health, defence, education, environmental protection and other priorities.
"The reco"Pons of the Working Groups to the Megascience Forum are excellent guidance for governments who wish to make the most use of their valuable research funds."
Dr Edwards said today that the most important commodity on the world market in coming decades will be information. "At the same time the critical natural resource is going to be biodiversity and its derivatives" he said.
"The Megascience Forum promotes the concept of free-flowing information about biodiversity and other biological topics" Dr Edwards said. "Information flowing freely across international borders allows governments to make better decisions about conservation of the world's biological heritage. It allows scientists to make better predictions about the environment. It advances science."
The Working Group is focussing on the areas of neuroscience, biodiversity and intellectual property rights.
"Biodiversity is too big a subject for one or even one group of researchers. There is a great deal of data around from individual researchers. This information needs to be catalogued on computer databases that can become part of networks to which other scientists can gain access.
"This and other matters will be addressed by the Biological Informatics
Workshop this week" Dr Edwards concluded.
Further information:
Ebbe Nielsen (06) 247 4277 or mobile 0419 418 745
Dr Jim Edwards, Chairman, Working Group (06) 247 8999 (Parkroyal Hotel)
Dr Thomas Lovejoy (06) 247 8999
Dr Meredith Lane (06) 247 8999