ESF workshop on sustainability and governance of web and GRID resources in functional genomics

Life scientists and bioinformaticians increasingly rely on web-based resources. The number of such resources, as well as the amount of available content, grows continuously. The need for efficient interoperability is becoming important. Moreover, as data propagate easily through such media, their quality and pertinence need to be monitored closely. It costs money to set up and maintain a resource. Because biology, like any other field of scientific inquiry, is very dynamic, maintenance is labour-intensive. Users of a resource will generally want to be assured of its quality; in other words, a scheme of quality assurance has to be in place. Governance, or who is responsible for what, has to be clear for the community. A business model addresses these issues in their mutual dependence. Therefore, every resource comes with a business model, irrespective of whether or not its creators are aware of it.