Financing Biotechnology Databases

A Workshop organised by The Biotechnology Information Strategic Forum, with support from DGXII of the Commission of the European Communities, and held at Purmerend, The Netherlands, May 1997

The workshop - Financing Biotechnology Databases was held at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Purmerend, The Netherlands in May 1997. It was organised by The Biotechnology Information Strategic Forum, with support from DGXII of the Commission of the European Communities.

The workshop is summarised in the following conclusions and recommendations:

• There is a central core of databases which are fundamental to international biological and biotechnology research and development. Secure public funding for these databases is essential to ensure access and quality. There needs to be agreement at international level on how this policy will be achieved and sustained, and on what databases are included in the core set.
• There is a second group of databases which can be successfully sustained through normal market processes, as products of commercial and non-profit entities. There is no place in this sector for core public funding of databases which are then distributed free, undermining the viability of the healthy private sector. There needs to be agreement at international policy level on the exclusion of databases in this sector from core public funding.
• There is a third group of databases which are too small or which have too small a user community to be commercially viable, and which are not part of the core group for sustained public funding. In these cases, partnership between the public and private sectors may offer opportunities for sustainability. The principle of a public share in funding appropriate continuing operations, rather than just initial development, needs to be accepted.
• Databases may belong to different groups during their life. Database producers should therefore realise that they must adjust to different scientific and market conditions as their project develops and matures. A framework to guide and support such producers is required.

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