Institutional and Organizational Factors for Enabling Data Access, Exchange and Use Aims for DivSeek

In June 2015, C-STEPS received funding from the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) and the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) to compare and contrast the governance structures and principles of existing genomic and genetics collaborative research programs that encourage use and sharing of materials and data among a wide range of actors in all sectors: government, industry, university and other non-profit. The primary aim of the project is to inform a new global initiative called DivSeek “to enable breeders and researchers to mobilize…plant genetic variation to accelerate the rate of crop improvement”. In December 2015, C-STEPS presented the second interim progress report to the DivSeek governing body for its deliberations in Bonn.