posted 27 Oct 2010 18:54 by Julian Carver
The NZOR Advisory Group met on 21 October 2010 in Wellington. They discussed the following:- Project milestones
- The implications of the reforms to the science system especially in relation to the CRIs and the role of ‘core purpose’ and backbone funding.
- Progress on major system components
- Integration with data provider and consumer systems
- The results of the data gaps analysis, and the need to find ways to prioritise filling the gaps
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posted 20 Oct 2010 15:15 by Julian Carver
In one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, the love struck Juliet says “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet”. Names are not the objects they describe. They are, however, the main way we have of referring to things in the real world. The relationship between names and organisms is more complicated than it might seem. The concept of what constitutes a particular species can change over time, and the names we use to refer to it change with it.
Having access to accurate and up-to-date organism names is essential for biosecurity. MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) needs to know what is already in New Zealand and what it is trying to keep out. It needs to be able to quickly identify undesirable organisms that come across the border so it can respond swiftly and appropriately to prevent incursions that might otherwise damage indigenous biodiversity, agricultural and horticultural industries and the health of New Zealanders.
All of this requires the consistent use of up-to-date organism names, not just within agencies, but across New Zealand and internationally.
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posted 17 Oct 2010 18:36 by Julian Carver
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updated 17 Oct 2010 18:49
]
The NZOR Steering Group met on 21 July 2010 in Wellington to review
progress as year two of the project commenced. The Steering
Group discussed: - The retirement of Dr Don Robertson from NIWA, and the appointment of Dr Barbara Hayden to the Steering Group as his replacement.
- The upcoming retirement of Hugh Davies from MAFBNZ, and the upcoming restructuring in MAF there will need to be more consideration
- The implications of the reforms to the science system especially in relation to the CRIs and the role of ‘core purpose’ and backbone funding.
- Future governance structures for NZOR
- Project progress
For more information please read the detailed summary of the minutes of the meeting. |
posted 16 Mar 2010 16:29 by Julian Carver
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updated 16 Mar 2010 16:37
]
The NZOR Steering Group met on 26 February 2010 in Wellington to review progress as the end of year one of the project neared. The Steering Group discussed: - the preliminary analysis of data held in MAF’s Biosecurity Risk Assessment Database (BRAD) against a names cache derived from providers and compared to international partner initiatives
- names harvesting software installation at NIWA
- the role of NZOR in the wider biodiversity/biosecurity information systems landscape
- promoting NZOR during 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity
- the process for approval for years 2 & 3 funding
- a possible future legal structure for NZOR
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posted 10 Dec 2009 18:18 by Julian Carver
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updated 10 Dec 2009 18:22
]
The NZOR Steering Group met in Wellington on 1 December hosted by MAFBNZ. Allan Ross was welcomed as the DOC representative given that Nicola Holmes has assumed the role of Chair. The Steering Group approved the Advisory Group Terms of Reference, the NZOR Interim Progress Report, and discussed options for the future structure of NZOR. An executive summary of the meeting is available. |
posted 23 Nov 2009 13:45 by Julian Carver
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updated 23 Nov 2009 20:40
]
posted 23 Nov 2009 13:10 by Julian Carver
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updated 23 Nov 2009 13:17
]
The
second meeting of the NZOR Advisory Group was held at MAF in
Wellington on the afternoon of 6 November 2009. A number of matters were discussed
including draft version of the
‘Data Provider and End User Agreement Discussion Document’, ‘Requirements Analysis – High Level’ and the ‘Interim Progress Report December 2009’.
Read more in an executive summary of the meeting. |
posted 21 Oct 2009 15:48 by Julian Carver
Landcare Research has just signed a contract with NIWA for their
involvement in the NZ Organisms Register project. NIWA has worked
closely with Landcare Research on the initial vision for NZOR, the
scoping study, and other aspects of the project to date and this
formalises that relationship. Under this contract NIWA will provide a number of services to support the project in year 1, including:
- Providing Species2000 New Zealand data to NZOR and liasing with Species2000 NZ authors
- Deploying a nomenclatural and taxonomic editing tool to aggregate NIWA's organism names data
- Collaborating with Landcare Research staff to deploy an NZOR data harvester at NIWA
- Collaborating
with Landcare Research on a Gap Analysis to determine the taxonomic
coverage and synonymy missing from the initial NZOR cache
- Participating
in the design, implementation development and review of NZOR data
structures, module architecture and service interfaces
A
number of NIWA staff have supported the vision for NZOR since its
inception, and NIWA is a key partner in the NZOR project. In addition
to the above participation, NIWA is represented on the NZOR Steering
and Advisory Groups. |
posted 6 Oct 2009 13:39 by Julian Carver
On 6th and 7th October detailed requirements gathering meetings were held between the NZOR project team, and staff at MAF Biosecurity, Department of Conservation, Te Papa, and NIWA.
Findings from these meetings will be provided to the NZOR Advisory Group for their meeting early in November. |
posted 9 Sep 2009 17:00 by Julian Carver
The first meeting of the NZOR Advisory Group was held at MoRST in Wellington on the morning of 10 September 2009. Christine Reed from MAF Biosecurity was appointed as the
Chair of the Advisory Group. A number of matters were discussed
including the Terms of Reference for the Advisory Group,
the scope of the NZOR project, and the roles and workplan for the Advisory Group. |
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