Distributed System of Scientific Collections

WP3 aims to build a pan-Europe Species AI Lab (SAIL) and connect it to other infrastructures, such as @dissco.bsky.social, so we can study how to better discover species with the help of genomic workflows 🔬🦎 #TETTRIXkickoff

Integrative #taxonomy, #referencespecimens, and federated databases tie new data streams to authoritative names and curated baselines. Join our discussion on Natural Collections and the #KMGBF targets at #COP17Armenia: 📅 Thu 29 Oct, 4:30-5:45pm (UTC+4) 📍IUCN Pavilion #TaxonomyTakesActionCOP17

At #COP17Armenia: #Sensors, #AI, and #eDNA multiply the speed of #biodiversity data but only interoperable, validated data can inform policy. #NSCs can help put data validation at the core of #KMGBF. Join us at the #TaxonomyTakesActionCOP17 event. 📅 Thu 29 Oct. 4.30-5.45pm (UTC+4) 📍 IUCN Pavilion

The @dissco.bsky.social has just launched a widespread consultation on its Annotation Validation Framework: www.dissco.eu/avf-consulta... All feedback is welcome! @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org @tdwg.org @disscoflanders.bsky.social @horizoneu.bsky.social #FAIRdata #machinelearning #biodiversity #AI

The @tdwg.org #TDWG2026 conference is coming in September and @dissco.bsky.social will be present in several insightful sessions. See a summary below. Remember that TDWG2026 is a hybrid event. More info 👉https://www.tdwg.org/conferences/2026/ @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org @disscoflanders.bsky.social

The @dissco.bsky.social is back after the summer with an open meeting (August 27th, 5-6pm CEST) on the topic of the Annotation Validation Framework: www.dissco.eu/annotation-v... that will govern the enrichment, correction, and update of #DigitalSpecimens. Join us! @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org

The @dissco.bsky.social #Greece digital portal is now on: www.dissco.eu/greek-consor... A major new step in making Greece’s #NaturalHistory #Collections more accessible through #digital technology. @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org @horizoneu.bsky.social

Good to see the #IUCN reiterate what has been our mantra all along: #NaturalHistory Collections are not repositories of the past but research-active infrastructures ready to address current and future global challenges: www.dissco.eu/iucn-natural... #biodiversity #taxonomy @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org

Join the @dissco.bsky.social x #WiNoDa hackathon on machine annotation services (MAS) next October 14-15th and learn how to develop and connect these services directly to DiSSCo. 📖 Info: lnkd.in/dzR3VWAF 📌 Registration (deadline is 31 August 2026): lnkd.in/dih-tGmg @disscoflanders.bsky.social

Our colleagues from @dissco.bsky.social-NL have launched De Kracht van Natuurwetenschappelijke Collecties in Nederland (The Power of Natural History Collections in the Netherlands) to defend the crucial scientific and societal impact of the unique Dutch NH collections: www.dissco.eu/natural-coll...

Two jobs at @thebotanics.bsky.social (RBGE) - National Project Manager Scotland & National Data Manager Scotland - join us in delivering @dissco.bsky.social in the UK www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/job...

The Unified Curation and Annotation System by @dissco.bsky.social, DiSSCover, has outgrown its "Proof of concept" phase and is ready to move on. Take a look at the latest developments! www.dissco.eu/maturing-dis...

Our colleagues from @meisebotanicgarden.bsky.social have just presented their science collection strategy for the coming decade. Guess what: @dissco.bsky.social plays a central role in it! You can take a look here: zenodo.org/records/1854... @disscoflanders.bsky.social @horizoneu.bsky.social

Soulaine Theocharides, from @dissco.bsky.social tech team, attended @fosdem.org 26 to present #DiSSCover our platform for curation and annotation of #digitalspecimen for experts and AI systems. Watch the presentation: www.dissco.eu/dissco-fosde... @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org @disscoflanders.bsky.social

🆕 Latest research in @dissco.bsky.social's #openscience collection illustrates a Machine Learning as a Service approach for quantitative analysis of #herbarium #specimens. 🌿 Subsequently, DiSSCO's models are used to calculate surface area of identified #plant organs. 🔓 See: doi.org/10.3897/rio....

🔎 Explore so far 10 #research outcomes by @dissco.bsky.social, i.e. proposals, research papers and project reports at: doi.org/10.3897/rio.... 🔓 👍 @dissco.bsky.social is a pan-European Research Infrastructure that aims to digitally unify #NaturalScience #collections to make them open & accessible.

Virtual collections allow users to digitally group specimens based on any chosen criteria, regardless of where the physical specimens are stored. Learn how @dissco.bsky.social builds them with #DiSSCover 👉https://www.dissco.eu/applications-virtualcollections/ #biodiversity @horizoneu.bsky.social

Manual coordination of collections is hindering the efforts of the scientific community. To overcome this, @dissco.bsky.social proposes AI-based automation to expand access, annotate data, and integrate collections across institutions. Watch this demo to learn more www.dissco.eu/applications...

What we had until today: a fragmented model of access/request of specimens. What #ELVIS (European Loans & Visit System) already offers: a single entry point for estandardised practices across institutions, better discoverability and traceability. DEMO 👉 www.dissco.eu/applications...

The @dissco.bsky.social tech team works with a small group of early adopters. They are the researchers, #taxonomists and collection managers of the "Users group". Find out the high-priority needs that we have identified through this collaboration 👉 www.dissco.eu/user-groups/ @horizoneu.bsky.social

Our @dissco.bsky.social partners from @nhmwien.bsky.social are organising the symposium #Museomics2026 focused on novel technical advances, historical #DNA, and the societal relevance of museum collections. More info and registration: www.nhm.at/en/museomics... @horizoneu.bsky.social #biodiversity

The pre-registration period for specimen datasets to join @dissco.bsky.social is almost done (Oct 31) but here is a funny fact: if you have a #DarwinCore archive already, it'll take you 15 minutes to fill in the form. We'll create only 20M #DOIs in 2025 so hurry! dissco.eu/ds-enrollment/

#LivingData2025 Sam Leeflang begins the session on openDS: Data model for global implementation of open #DigitalSpecimen & the status of specimen digitization @dissco.bsky.social 🧪🌏 #biodiversity #FAIRdata

"Towards a Common Language for Digital Specimens: Exploring the openDS Data Model". importance of links and relationships. #openDS #DigitalSpecimen @dissco.bsky.social 🧪🌏

#LivingData2025 I am talking about (virtually) "Building and Serving FAIR Terms and Vocabularies for open Digital Specimen" part of "Data model for global implementation of open Digital Specimen & the status of specimen digitization" #FAIRdata 🧪🌏 @dissco.bsky.social

Elspeth Haston talking about MIDS: Minimum Information about a Digital Specimen "What is the status of global digitisation? MIDS as an institutional & global digitisation standard" #LivingData2025 🧪🌏 @dissco.bsky.social

Mathias Dillen from Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium talking about "MIDS in practice": Minimum Information about a Digital Specimen www.tdwg.org/community/cd... @dissco.bsky.social @tdwg.org #LivingData2025. 🧪🌏

Our Wouter Addink at #LivingData2025 presenting the roadmap for @dissco.bsky.social's #digitalspecimen enrollment. His message: Join the future of #naturalhistory collections by getting onboard with DiSSCo. Deadline getting close! Free pre-registration 👉 dissco.eu/ds-enrollment/

The #LivingData2025 conference starts tomorrow and @dissco.bsky.social will be there! See below a summary of the DiSSCo-related sessions. More info: www.livingdata2025.com #biodiversity #bioinformatics #FAIRdata @disscoflanders.bsky.social

The pre-registration period for biological/geological specimen datasets to join the @dissco.bsky.social #DigitalSpecimen data infrastructure is open! Deadline for the 1st selection process: Oct 31st. Hurry! We will create only 20M #DOIs in 2025. Know more: www.dissco.eu/ds-enrollment/

We wouldn't have it any other way! @dissco.bsky.social participates in the OSCA (Open #ScientificCollections #Austria) Perspectives talks, hosted by our partners @nhmwien.bsky.social 👉https://osca.science/osca-veranstaltung-11-12-09-2025/ @disscoflanders.bsky.social @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org

Proud to announce a big milestone: over 5M digital specimens and digital media objects are now available in @dissco.bsky.social! You can either find out more about this 👉 dissco.eu/five-million... or go see them right now on our DiSSCover platform! 👉 disscover.dissco.eu Congrats, all!

Last June 26, our colleagues from @mnhn.fr conducted an online workshop on one of the flagship services of @dissco.bsky.social, the European Loans and Visits System, #ELViS. Watch the recording! 👉 youtu.be/hf49JuoCfFU Take a look! @horizoneu.bsky.social @disscoflanders.bsky.social #naturalshistory

Check this out: SpLAT, @dissco.bsky.social's Specimen Label Automatic Transcription service, uses #AI to capture text from labels of #naturalhistory specimens. The text is formatted and added to the #DigitalSpecimen as an annotation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1gA... @horizoneu.bsky.social

Take a look at @dissco.bsky.social latest publication: "Extraction of Quantitative Specimen Data using Machine Learning as a Service in the DiSSCo Research Infrastructure" 👉 preprints.arphahub.com/articles.php...

As the private sector's dependence on biodiversity continues to grow, so does the need to invest in #biodiversity #data. Interesting article with participation of Veronika Johansson (manager of our Swedish node): doi.org/10.32942/X27... @horizoneu.bsky.social

See paper👇Physical evidence in museums are crucial as definitive reference points for species identification. Highly relevant for 'Digital Extended Specimen' work across projects @dissco.bsky.social @iboleurope.bsky.social @biogeneurope.bsky.social @arisenl.bsky.social 🧪🌏

The last of BioDT's webinars on 14 May will explore the essential role of Research Infrastructures (#RIs) in powering #biodiversity #DigitalTwins: biodt.eu/events/data-... Join us! @horizoneu.bsky.social #DigitalSpecimen #FAIRdata #machinelearning

The 2nd meeting of @dissco.bsky.social Interim Council marked the end of two days dedicated to explaining the developments and future plans of #DiSSCoRI. Thank you all participants for the great effort you put into our endeavor. It really is inspiring @horizoneu.bsky.social #biodiversity #ESFRI

Live♨️from @dissco.bsky.social 7th interim General Assembly: The last stretch of our iGA7 goes for financial planning until #DiSSCo has reached the #ERIC legal status, and for final notes from DiSSCo's iGA chair Edwing van Huis. Interesting times lie ahead! Thanks all! @horizoneu.bsky.social

Live♨️from @dissco.bsky.social iGA7: The members of the DiSSCo coordination and support office give an overview of their work supporting DiSSCo partners during 2024, and future plans for 2025. They cover policy, engagement, technical, and budget aspects of DiSSCo. @horizoneu.bsky.social #ESFRI #ERIC

Live♨️from @dissco.bsky.social iGA7: The technical fireworks begin! Sam Leeflang (@naturalis.bsky.social) explains the #DiSSCo platform MVP (more info here: dissco.pageflow.io/dissco-mvp-i...). Demos of #ELViS (elvis.dissco.eu) and #DiSSCover (disscover.dissco.eu) will follow. @horizoneu.bsky.social

Live♨️from @dissco.bsky.social 7th interim General Assembly: Service provision is crucial for #DiSSCo, but we must regulate the dialogue between DiSSCo #ERIC and individual service providers from our community. Our general framework agreement aims to do the trick @horizoneu.bsky.social

Live♨️from @dissco.bsky.social 7th interim General Assembly: Some recommendations on procurement policy by Stefaan Pijls (Meise Botanic Garden): use a centralised procurement service when acquisition is in function of DiSSCo #ERIC, and rely on our community for provision before going to 3rd parties.

Welcome to @dissco.bsky.social 7th interim General Assembly at @naturalis.bsky.social! Ana de Castro, chair of our Interim Council, and Jennifa Dorleijn, representing the #Dutchgovernment, give an update on the request to the #EuropeanCommission for setting up DiSSCo #ERIC. @horizoneu.bsky.social

Live♨️from @dissco.bsky.social Transition wrap-up: Time to close the event, but we are not done yet. We still have some more months of work ahead. Tomorrow we will celebrate our interim General Assembly (the 7th!) and the 2nd meeting of our Interim Council (info: www.dissco.eu/dissco/gover...)

Live♨️from @dissco.bsky.social Transition wrap-up: Each country is a microcosmos, so we have decided to gather some of our national nodes to discuss lessons learned during the preparatory and transition phases of #DiSSCo and key recommendations for the future DiSSCoRI. @horizoneu.bsky.social #FAIR

Live♨️from @dissco.bsky.social Transition wrap-up: Time to talk about tech developments. Claus Weiland from #DiSSCo partner @sgn.one showcases the latest about ELViS (elvis.dissco.eu/en), DiSSCo's #data management plan and our latest machine #annotation services hackathon (lnkd.in/egcxNUJW).

Live♨️from @dissco.bsky.social Transition wrap-up event: All work package leaders of the #DiSSCoTransition project explain the developments to date, but also the recommendations they have for the future #DiSSCoRI. An opportunity to show everything we've learned along the way @horizoneu.bsky.social

Proud of having taken our @dissco.bsky.social Transition project to its wrap-up event at @naturalis.bsky.social. This is one of the last steps towards the conclusion of our transition phase, and the preamble to finally entering the construction stage of #DiSSCoRI! #FAIR @horizoneu.bsky.social