FAIRsharing represented at AIBC24 Biocuration Conference in India

Article reproduced by kind permission from the FAIRsharing Blog

FAIRsharing developers Prakhyat Gailani and Ramon Granell attended and presented FAIRsharing in the 17^th Annual International Biocuration Conference (AIBC24) that took place in Faridabad, India (March 5 – 8, 2024). This conference provided an opportunity for curators, developers and data stake holders to interact and exchange ideas and expertise. The conference was opened by a government minister who spoke about the importance of life science research and the government’s investments in the field.

Two FAIRsharing posters were presented. The first one showcased the ways in which FAIRshairing can provide support for a wide variety of stakeholders such as researchers, librarians, developers, journal publishers and curators.

“AIBC24 was the first biocuration conference I ever attended, and it opened my eyes to a world of possibilities. As someone with a software background, I was fascinated by the vast field of biocuration and its potential for the future. It was inspiring to see the passion and dedication of the people who attended the conference. The talks were informative and thought-provoking, and I was particularly impressed by the use of supercomputing platforms in agriculture, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 genomics consortium, and ChatGPT usage in the curation process.

“It was great to see the interest and enthusiasm of the locals, who were surprised to learn about the open and free service of FAIRsharing. They were eager to contribute and make their records visible in the application. During conference breakouts, I had some interesting conversations with locals in their native language, and they were curious about how the Indian Biological Data Centre was established and hosted the conference. I also met curators from Korea who were interested in using FAIRsharing and the FAIR Cookbook to make their data FAIR. The Indian food and hospitality were amazing, and the cultural programs and gala dinner on the first day of the conference were unforgettable.

“In summary, AIBC24 was an amazing experience that gave me insights into the world of biocuration, and I was proud to talk about how FAIRsharing helps researchers. It was inspiring to see the passion and dedication of the attendees, and I look forward to attending future conferences and continuing to learn and grow in this field.”

Prakhyat Gailani

The second poster was about the three types of curators that exist in FAIRsharing: record maintainers, Community Champions and in-house curators.

“AIBC24 was a very good event that gave me the opportunity to know how curation is performed around the world. I met experts that explained their recent work (e.g. some of the databases and tools they have helped to curate) but also their difficulties around being properly recognised by the research community.

“IBC24 organisers provided a great atmosphere with their hospitality, amazing food and cultural program (an exceptional folk Indian dancing show).

“It was also very encouraging that FAIRsharing was cited by various speakers as a useful service for curators and researchers.”

Ramon Granell

In addition, FAIRsharing was also presented in an internal Oxford University event called Love Research Data that took place February 14, 2024 hosted by the Research Data Group. Several data management services and platforms used at Oxford were gathered in the Sheldonian Theatre to understand what they can offer. Both Prakhyat and Ramon presented FAIRsharing to the event attendants.