A vacancy announcement is on the web ( http://www.unccd.int/secretariat/vacancies/docs/ToR%20consultant%20for%20data%20and%20information%20analysis%20final.pdf

), deadline for submission being 31 July 2010.

Instructions on how to apply for this consultancy are provided on UNCCD Web site: http://www.unccd.int/

Fundable Projects

Applicants may seek funding for activities that positively impact Creative Commons’ mission of fostering creativity (cultural, educational, scientific and other content) in the commons, to promote understanding and adoption of CC’s tools, licenses and technologies, and to support the building and work of communities that use or benefit from CC licenses, tools, and technologies.

Some funding may be ear-marked to address particular issues, programs or activities, geographies or other specified objectives or criteria, all as may be posted by Creative Commons.

Grants will range in amount from US$ 1,000 – US$ 10,000.

Example projects:

1. Convening a workshop on best/recommended practices for developing and publishing Open Educational Resources, or CC-licensed works in some other high-value field.
2. Publishing an academic article comparing multiple jurisdictions’ laws on copyright exceptions and limitations.
3. Establishing metrics for and measuring the impact of CC-licensed works within a particular field or discipline, such as education or science, or particular geography, such as Africa.
4. Documenting novel business models that are enabled by Creative Commons licenses and technologies, including commercial ventures.
5. Studying the benefits and challenges associated with incorporating CC licenses and technologies within governments, or libraries, museums and other cultural institutions.
6. Preparing a white paper on the negative effects of license proliferation, or documenting case studies involving license incompatibilities.
7. Supporting a local affiliate team implementing a CC-related technology challenge, such as adding license support to a specific CMS.
8. Examining the effects that the licensing of databases and data have on scientific research and discovery.
9. Creating a database of projects that have adopted the CC0 waiver, which places works in the public domain, for content and/or data they publish, and how such content and data is thereafter used by others and with what effects.
10. Capacity-building for CC affiliate projects such as development of proposals for and pursuit of local funding.
11. Outreach projects the demonstrate the value of CC, such as a clinic on using free software creation tools to remix CC-licensed content.

Funding may not be used for lobbying activities, license porting activities (launch events, legal review or translations of the licenses, etc.), Salons, exclusively for the creation of CC-licensed works, or for similar activities and events, all as determined by CC in its discretion. Events must be outcome-driven and integral to CC’s mission. Grants cannot be used to support "meetings for the sake of meetings" or regional meetings unless those meetings result in outputs such as those described above. Funding may not be provided for events that Creative Commons may be funding in whole or in part.

Funds will be distributed beginning in August and cannot be applied to previously incurred expenses. Applications for activities funded by other means will not be accepted.

Who May Apply

Any organization or institution may apply. Applications from or endorsed by official CC affiliate institutions* will receive preference. Joint applications from official CC affiliate institutions and other organizations are also welcomed, although each joint proposal will still be capped by the maximum grant amount. Applicants wishing to establish an official CC jurisdiction project in their country are encouraged to apply as well. Applications from non-OECD countries will be given special consideration.

There is no limit to the number of applications an organization or group of organizations may submit, although bear in mind that Creative Commons will try to distribute grants across organizations and regions.

• Affiliate institutions and related contact information can be found by visiting creativecommons.org/international. Institutions are listed by jurisdiction; simply click on a jurisdiction flag and scroll toward the bottom of the page where the information may be found.

Application Process

Creative Commons will publish one or more Calls for Grant Applications, which will detail application processes and deadlines, as well as any supplemental application criteria. All applications must be submitted in English and will be made public on the Creative Commons wiki. The application form must be accompanied by a proposed budget. See below for more details.

Successful applicants will be required to sign a Grant Agreement as a condition of receiving funds, which agreement will specify reporting, accounting and other terms and conditions governing receipt and use of the funds. Among other things, all Grant Agreements will provide that all original material produced within the scope of the grant program will be made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license or CC0 or if the material is software, afree/libre/open source software license.

Grant recipients must also agree to report on and document the project and use of funds as described by Creative Commons in the Grant Agreement. Recipients agree to participate in communication with the grant committee and coordinators, and also with fellow grantees, CC staff, and CC jurisdictions, all as may be reasonably requested.

Application and Grant Calendar

• Call for CC affiliate Catalyst Grants applications: opens April 23
• Call for public Catalyst Grants applications: opens May 14
• Catalyst Fundraising Campaign: June 1 – June 30
• Deadline for all Catalyst Grants applications: June 30
• Review Committee convenes: July 1 – July 30
• Catalyst Grants awarded: beginning August 1

Review Process

Following initial screening by CC for completeness and appropriateness of the project proposed, applications will be published online for a period of public review and comment. By submitting a grant application, Applicant agrees to such publication, and further agrees not to reveal any confidential or other information that the Applicant is restricted from disclosing publicly, to Creative Commons, or otherwise.

A Grant Review Committee established by Creative Commons will evaluate the grant applications and make recommendations to Creative Commons for final action. The committee will consist of CC staff as well as a single representative from each of the following regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East/Arab world, and North America. Official CC affiliate institutions within each jurisdiction are expected to establish a process for selecting a single regional representative to serve on the Grant Review Committee; however, if no regional representative is selected or if a process is not established for any reason prior to the commencement of the Grant Review Committee’s work, then Creative Commons may select a representative for the region. Regional representatives will serve for a period of one year, and are expected to make themselves available for conference calls and meetings to review and establish recommendations for review and action by Creative Commons.

Creative Commons reserves the right to amend or modify these terms at any time in its sole discretion, and to discontinue the Catalyst Grants program at any time.

Grant applications in progress or submitted

AudioImager
CC Asia Pacific Conference 2010
Development of a Photovoice Database Resource Center
ElectricalWhat
FooCorp — a music label focused on sharing of creative works, providing new opportunities for free culture musicians.
Local Map Search
Magazines Web 2.0 Search
One Retweet
OneFileEverywhere for Creative Commons
Open Educational Resources Content Repository for training educational researchers in Latin America
Open Robotics Platform
Middle-Eastern Musicians under CC
Rural Peace Project
Shared Film Festival
Soapnote
Study of the Cypriot Legal Framework for Copyright law from the scope of openness requirements in the academic environment of Cyprus leveraging on legal-tech means such as the Creative Commons licensing.
Worldwide Center of Mathematics Textbook Series

source: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Grants

The Google Policy Fellowship program was inspired by Google’s Summer of Code with a public policy twist. The Google Policy Fellowship program offers undergraduate, graduate, and law students interested in Internet and technology policy the opportunity to spend the summer contributing to the public dialogue on these issues, and exploring future academic and professional interests.

It was a complete privilege to work with such smart, passionate and fun people; to be able to participate in important debates with several organizations, and to do research with full academic freedom. I am proud of being a Google Policy Fellow." — Marcel Leonardi (EFF)

Program Overview

Fellows will have the opportunity to work at public interest organizations at the forefront of debates on broadband and access policy, content regulation, copyright and trademark reform, consumer privacy, open government, and more. Participating organizations are based in either Washington, DC, San Francisco, CA , Ottawa or Toronto, Canada and include: American Library Association, Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, Cato Institute, Center for Democracy and Technology, Citizen Lab, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Creative Commons, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Future of Music Coalition, Internet Education Foundation, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Media Access Project, National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America Foundation, Progress and Freedom Foundation, Public Knowledge, and Technology Policy Institute. More information about the host organizations and the areas of focus for the fellows are outlined here.

Fellows will be assigned a lead mentor at their host organizations, but will have the opportunity to work with several senior staff members over the course of the summer. Fellows will be expected to make substantive contributions to the work of their organization, including conducting policy research and analysis; drafting reports and analyses; attending government and industry meetings and conferences; and participating in other advocacy activities.

Who should apply?

We’re looking for students who are passionate about technology, and want to spend the summer diving headfirst into Internet policy. Students from all majors and degree programs who posses the following qualities are encouraged to apply:

• Demonstrated or stated commitment to Internet and technology policy
• Excellent academic record, professional/extracurricular/volunteer activities, subject matter expertise
• First-rate analytical, communications, research, and writing skills
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and efficiently, and to work smartly and resourcefully in a fast-paced environment

Fellows will receive a stipend of $7,000 for 10 weeks during the summer of 2010 (June-August). Exact dates of the fellowship will be worked out by the fellow and host organization. Applications are due by midnight on Monday, December 28, 2009. Students who are accepted into the program will be notified by Friday, February 12th, 2010.

To learn about application process, click here.

logo: http://extendedreach.wordpress.com/2008/10/27/google-policy-fellowships/

GBIF is building a metadata portal to enable discovery of biodiversity resources on both the GBIF and other networks.  A metadata catalogue, based on Metacat, will constitute the main component of the GBIF portal backend and link to other metadata catalogues in the GBIF network with the ultimate goal of providing a virtual unified catalogue of all metadata from participating organisations.

In order to stimulate the process of sharing dataset-level metadata, the GBIF Secretariat is offering a limited number of small grants of up to € 5,000 to GBIF Participants to enable them to build and/or connect their existing metadata catalogues to the GBIF network. Please be aware that this is a once-off offer to kick-start the process of building the distributed GBIF metadata catalogue system: no repeat funds will be provided.

Connecting other Metacat catalogues to the Metacat installation in the GBIF portal is straightforward (the application supports this directly). Already deployed Metacat systems are thus not the focus of this call. Rather, this call is focused on those who have already deployed other catalogue systems or have not yet installed any metadata system. Those who already use other catalogue applications will need to implement the Open Archives Initiative – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH – http://www.openarchives.org/) so that the contents of their catalogue can be shared on the network. For more information on the process, we refer you to the OAI-PMH FAQ statement:  http://www.openarchives.org/documents/FAQ.html#How long will it take me to implement the protocol

Grant Applications
Applications for grants are accepted from two categories of provider:

1. those who already have a (non-Metacat) metadata catalogue system in operation and are willing to implement the OAI-PMH interface for harvesting of dataset metadata;
2. those who do not yet have an online metadata catalogue system in place but are willing to deploy one (e.g., Cassia, GeoNetwork, Mercury, Metacat), implement the OAI-PMH (if the catalogue is not based on Metacat), and populate the catalogue with dataset metadata;

Submission Process
All GBIF Participants are eligible to apply for these grants. To apply,

1. complete the form below by selecting one of the two categories as they apply to your organisation and providing a brief statement of how much funding you require and how you intend to use the funds;
2. provide a letter of support from your host institution that the metadata system will be maintained after this catalytic investment.

Applications should be submitted by email to Éamonn Ó Tuama, Programme Officer for IDA (eotuama_@If you can read this, please upgrade to a modern browser.gbif.org) and will be accepted up to 30 November 2009. Successful applicants will be notified in December. Please note that no overhead can be charged and that a financial report will be required on conclusion of the work.

Click here to download application form.

1. Background:

In order to help achieve targets and address specific issues and/or objectives as outlined in the GBIF Work Programme 2009-2010, GBIF may commission time-bound and subject-specific Task Groups. Recent Task Groups have included those dealing with observational data (ODTG), multimedia data (MRTG), data publishing framework (DPF TG), content needs assessment (CNA TG), natural history collections (GSAP-NHC), LSID and GUIDs (LGTG) and metadata implementation framework (MIFTG). For each of these TGs, the GBIF Secretariat has led the process; however, we now seek to contract out such coordination and project management on future TGs. With this Request for Proposals (RoP), we are initiating this process.

2. Request for Proposals:

In 2010 GBIF wishes to commission two further Task Groups addressing the following issues;

1. A Global Strategy and Action Plan for mobilisation of Observation, Ecological, Multimedia and other types of primary biodiversity data (GSAP-OEM)
2. A Data-Hosting Centres Task Group (DHC TG)

Objectives, terms-of-reference (ToR), and timeline of activities of each of these proposed Task Groups are detailed in Annex I.

Through this RoP, the GBIF Secretariat invites proposals from organisations/institutions, research groups and individuals working in the area of biodiversity informatics, bioinformatics, ecoinformatics and/or related fields of scientific data management to coordinate the commissioning and activities of these Task Groups as per the GBIF approved guidelines (Annex II). Contracting organisation(s)/individual(s) would be responsible for project management of the full process, including delivery of the final outputs of the Task Groups as detailed in Annex I.

Proposals as per attached proforma (Annex III) to coordinate either or both specified Task Groups must be submitted to Dr. Vishwas Chavan, Senior Programme Officer for DIGIT (email: vchavan_@If you can read this, please upgrade to a modern browser.gbif.org) on or before 25th November 2009.

Annex I: Objectives and ToRs of the Task Groups

(A) Global Strategy and Action Plan for mobilisation of Observation, Ecological, Multimedia and other types of primary biodiversity data (GSAP-OEM)

As part of a broader Global Strategy for mobilising Primary Biodiversity Data, GBIF is proposing to catalyse the development of a Global Strategy and Action Plan (GSAP) for the further mobilisation of observation, ecological, multimedia and other types of primary biodiversity data worldwide.

Task Group Objectives

1. Review the current state of free and open access to observational, ecological, multimedia and other types of primary biodiversity data.
2. Identify constraints/barriers (infrastructural, technical, training, social, and political) to exchange/sharing of these data types.
3. Produce guidelines for developing:
   • institutional, national, regional and thematic strategies and action plans for discovery and mobilization of such types of primary biodiversity data;
   • strategies and action plans for mobilising ad-hoc and non-primary biodiversity data, e.g. data collected through EIA studies, in-situ and ex-situ studies;
   • tool kits, standards and best practices for simple, and cost-effective capture, management, quality enhancements and mobilisation of data;
   • accreditation and recognition frameworks to acknowledge the efforts of various players involved in the data life cycle from its generation to publishing;
   • outreach and capacity building related to all of the above.
4. Recommend technical and infrastructural enhancements within the GBIF network to facilitate discovery and publishing of these new data types.
5. Recommend mechanisms and innovative approaches towards mobilising resources (financial and infrastructural) to expedite mobilisation of such types of data.

Task Group Characteristics, Timeline and modus operandi

The Task Group should start functioning from early February 2010 and should remain active until the final report is submitted by beginning of August 2010. The Task Group should convene most of its business remotely through mailing-list, wiki, skype and conference calls. Regular physical meetings are not planned but at least one is foreseen in order to either scope or formulate the final report.

The Task Group will report through the DIGIT Work Area Chair and DIGIT Programme Officer at the GBIF Secretariat.

Task Group Composition

The Task Group should consist of not more than 10 experts in the field of observational, ecological, multimedia and other types of primary biodiversity data digitisation, management and publishing, each with a proven record of excellent liaison with multinational, multicultural stakeholders. Given that different data types and data publishers will require different strategic approaches, representation of the different domains needs to be ensured. Considering the global scale of this exercise an attempt will also be made to maintain regional and gender balance.

Timeline:

January 2010:  Call for nominations
February 2010:  Establishment of the Task Group
March/April 2010:  Draft discussion document(s) to seek inputs from stakeholders
May/June 2010:  Face-to-face meeting of the Task Group
July 2010:  Release of draft report of the GSAP-OEM TG to seek inputs from GBIF Participants and other stakeholders
August 2010:  Final Report submission

Budget:

An allocation of € 10,000 each has been made in 2009 budgets for this activity. Additional resources, if required can be made available from 2010 budget. However, an additional expense would need justification and prior approval of the Secretariat.

(B) Data Hosting Centre Task Group (DHC TG)

Whilst an unprecedented volume of biodiversity data is currently being generated worldwide, it is perceived that significant amounts of data get lost or will be lost after project closure. To investigate the causes of such loss, and recommend strategies as to how biodiversity data can be rescued and archived, through ‘data hosting centres’ a Task Group on ‘Data Hosting Centres’ will be commissioned.

Task Group Objectives:

1. Identify the socio-political, cultural, technical and economic causes of loss of biodiversity data.
2. Review the state-of-the-art of the ‘data hosting’ and/or ‘data archival’ infrastructures in engineering and social sciences, as well as in biological sciences, etc.
3. Produce guidelines for developing:
   • Strategies and best practices for prevention of ‘biodiversity data loss’;
   • Guidelines to implement data rescue and archival mechanisms across the GBIF network;
   • Criteria for establishment, endorsement, and monitoring of ‘data hosting centres’;
   • Mechanisms to discover and archive orphaned or to be orphaned biodiversity datasets; li>
   • Innovative ways to collaborate with existing infrastructures and initiatives, and industry players to integrate the above mechanisms to rescue and archive threatened biodiversity data with the existing global infrastructure
4. Inventorise data rescue tools, processes, software’s, and infrastructures etc.

Task Group Characteristics, Timeline and modus operandi:

The Task Group should start functioning from February 2010 and should remain active until the final report is submitted by beginning of August 2010. The Task Group should convene most of its business remotely through a mailing-list, wiki, skype and conference calls. Regular physical meetings are not planned but at least one is foreseen in order to scope or formulate the final report.

The Task Group will report through the DIGIT Work Area Chair and DIGIT Programme Officer at the GBIF Secretariat.

Task Group Composition

The Task Group should consist of not more than six experts in the field of data rescue, data archival, data managers, and industry leaders, with a proven record of excellent liaison with multinational, multicultural stakeholders. Considering the global scale of this exercise an attempt will also be made to maintain regional and gender balance.

Timeline:

January 2010:  Call for nominations
February 2010:  Establishment of the Task Group
March/April 2010:  Draft discussion document to seek inputs from stakeholders
May/June 2010:  Face-to-face meeting of the Task Group
July 2010:  Release of draft report of the DHC TG to seek inputs from GBIF Participants and other stakeholders
August 2010:  Final Report submission

Budget:

An allocation of € 10,000 has been made in 2009 budget for this activity.

Annex II: Guidelines for coordination of Task Groups

1. The Contractor will prepare the final version of the ToR for the Task Group in consultation with respective Work Area Chair(s) and the GBIF Secretariat Programme Officer.
2. The Secretariat will release the ‘Call for Nominations’ for the membership of the Task Group.
3. The Contractor, in consultation with the Secretariat and respective Work Area Chair(s) will determine the composition of the Task Group and will identify two experts as co-chairs.
4. In the case of too few nominations experts can be co-opted by the Task Group co-chairs in consultation with the Secretariat.
5. The Secretariat will announce the commissioning of the Task Group through its communications portal, and mailing lists.
6. The Task Group should convene most of its business remotely through mailing-list, wiki, skype and conference calls.
7. Dates, venue and agenda of the face-to-face meeting will be determined by the co-chairs of the Task Group in consultation with the contractor, Work Area chair(s) and the Secretariat point of contact.
8. The Contractor will be responsible for making the necessary logistical arrangements for smooth conduct of the face-to-face meeting.
9. The Contractor and Co-Chairs in consultation with the Work Area Chair and the Secretariat will determine the best mechanism for seeking inputs from GBIF Participants and other stakeholder communities.
10. The members and the Co-Chairs of the Task Group will not receive remuneration for their participation. However, all related expenses towards their participation will be covered by the contract.
11. The Task Groups are mandated to provide a suite of recommendations on the issues under evaluation.
12. The Contractor and Task Group Co-Chairs will determine the structure of the report in consultation with Work Area chair and the Secretariat.
13. The Contractor will seek the prior consent of the Secretariat to make the final report available in the public domain and/or share with other networks, and initiatives.

Annex III: Proforma for Proposals on Coordination of a GBIF Task Group

1. Name of the Task Group:
2. Name of the organisation:
3. Address (including tel., fax., & email):
4. Name of the coordinating person:
5. Skills and experience of contracting institutions and/or individuals in successful coordination of international, multi-domain, and multi-cultural Task Groups:
6. Suggestions to optimise the coordination of the Task Groups (other than those listed in Annex I and II.
7. Suggest experts who could be potential co-chairs of the Task Group:
8. Statement of Undertaking (on the official stationary, and to be signed by the Grants Officer and the contractor):

On behalf of <name of the contractor> our institution / organisation agree to extend all necessary support for smooth functioning of the Task Group. We further agree fulfil the expectations, obligations and conditions set in the award letter. We further undertake the responsibility for submitting final reports within the agreed timeline. We would further provide the detailed statement of expenditure incurred on various activities of the Task Group.

Signature of the Grants Officer / Head of the Organisation
Name and Title of the Grants Officer / Head of the Organisation
Seal of the Organisation

More information at http://www.gbif.org/communications/news-and-events/showsingle/article/coordination-of-a-gbif-thematic-task-group/

All interested parties are invited to participate in the new OASIS eMIX Technical Committee. This group will work to define standards for exchanging energy characteristics, availability, and schedules to support the free and effective exchange of information. The eMIX TC will operate under the Royalty Free on Limited Terms mode of the OASIS IPR Policy. The 40+ TC proposers include representatives of OASIS Foundational Sponsors–IBM, Primeton, and Sun Microsystems–as well as Sponsors–EnerNOC, EPRI, TIBCO, U.S. NIST–and others. Edward Cazalet is the convener; a TC chair or two co-chairs will be elected at the first meeting, which will be held by teleconference on 15 Oct. Contact join@oasis-open.org for details on participation.

A new OASIS technical committee is being formed. The OASIS
Energy Market Information Exchange (eMIX) Technical Committee has
been proposed by the members of OASIS listed below. The TC name,
statement of purpose, scope, list of deliverables, audience, and
language specified in the proposal will constitute the TC's official
charter. Submissions of technology for consideration by the TC, and
the beginning of technical discussions, may occur no sooner than the
TC's first meeting.

    The eligibility requirements for becoming a participant in the TC
at the first meeting are:

    (a) you must be an employee of an OASIS member organization or an
individual member of OASIS, and
    (b) you must join the Technical Committee, which members may do by
using the "Join this TC" button on the TC's public page at [a].

    To be considered a voting member at the first meeting, you must:
    (a) join the Technical Committee at least 7 days prior to the
first meeting (date); and
    (b) you must attend the first meeting of the TC, at the time and
date fixed below (date).

Of course, participants also may join the TC at a later time. OASIS
and the TC welcomes all interested parties.

    Non-OASIS members who wish to participate may contact us about
joining OASIS [b]. In addition, the public may access the information
resources maintained for each TC: a mail list archive, document
repository and public comments facility, which will be linked from the
TC's public home page at [a].

    Please feel free to forward this announcement to any other
appropriate lists. OASIS is an open standards organization; we
encourage your participation.

Regards,

Mary

Mary P McRae
Director, Technical Committee Administration
OASIS: Advancing open standards for the information society
email: mary.mcrae@oasis-open.org
web: www.oasis-open.org
twitter: fiberartisan #oasisopen
phone: 1.603.232.9090

[a] http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=emix
[b] See http://www.oasis-open.org/join/

The project aims, to complement earlier work by the GLOBIO partnership, to collaborate with Microsoft Research and others to explore new approaches to model the response of biodiversity to multiple factors including, but not limited to, habitat loss and climate change. We aim to build a team of postdoctoral scientists that will combine various ideas and approaches from community and ecosystem ecology, with various global-scale data sets, to enable the international community to assess the impacts of alternative policies on biodiversity and ecosystem function.

We are seeking enthusiastic and motivated post-doctoral scientists to explore potential drivers and pressures underlying the loss of biodiversity, and how these factors might be used to predict future changes in biodiversity; develop a scheme for grouping species into ecologically meaningful units with a view to generating better models and more relevant biodiversity projections; develop an expanded, and improved, set of biodiversity metrics than those currently available; rigorously and transparently develop a new global biodiversity model, and test and validate the model at global scales, and within particular regions, for example in DRC and New Guinea or UN REDD countries. The successful applicants need to have analytical, programming and GIS skills and be able to communicate, collaborate and convene a wide range of stakeholders. The successful applicants will play a key role in shaping the role of science at UNEP-WCMC, understand and support contemporary UN processes and have an interest in bridging the science policy interface.

These are three-year fixed term positions, based at the offices of UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK, but with an expectation of very frequent collaboration with scientists in the Microsoft Research Computational Ecology and Environment Science group, also based in Cambridge, UK. The salary is negotiable within UNEP-WCMC’s existing bands.

Applicants who meet the requirements are invited, by 18th September 2009, to complete and send an application form attaching their CV and a one-page covering letter identifying their specific skills and knowledge in relation to this vacancy to recruitment@unep-wcmc.org . For further information on this role, including the application form, please visit the jobs page on  www.unep-wcmc.org.