In May 2019 New Digital Technologies for Marine Biodiversity Data Handling in East Africa – Data Linking People (NeDiT) held its very first inaugural project workshop. It was initiated to get together relevant Tanzanian stakeholders involved in the handling of marine biodiversity data. These included representatives from universities, governmental agencies and institutions, as well as key regional platforms and NGOs. The main aim was to disseminate the scope of the project and get an overview of ongoing projects and activities. It was also used to come to a common terminology concerning biodiversity and biodiversity data handling among the participants.
Day 1 focused on reports of data collection and handling practices from the attending institutions. Those presentations were followed by discussion rounds and a workshop focusing on improving the data handling protocols and options for a database hosting.
On day 2, emphasis was given to new digital tools to collect, analyse and disseminate biodiversity data, as well as choosing the right platform to foster an open exchange on what data is needed and how it can be provided to decisions makers and managers.
Overall, this first get-together was already a great success, as stakeholders from different backgrounds could exchange on their information needs, terminology and technical requirements to create common and useful standards when it comes to biodiversity data handling, analysis and use.
