The Netherlands
May 30, 2011
The Top Technology Institute for Green Genetics (TTI GG) and the Netherlands eScience Center intend working closely together in the field of “Green eScience”. The two parties are making a joint investment of one million euros to support multidisciplinary data-intensive research in plant sciences. The aim is to set up a permanent eScience architecture so as to ensure continuity and create a flourishing community of users. Their collaboration is very much in the nature of a public-private partnership.
The world’s food supply is based on the breeding of plants. Dutch plant breeders and botanical research institutions are world leaders, but to retain their position, long-term multidisciplinary precompetitive collaboration is becoming increasingly important. Knowledge institutions and companies that make use of data-intensive technology to develop new varieties need to be able to deal with large volumes of data. The Netherlands eScience Center and TTI GG are therefore investing in jointly developing “Green eScience”.
Improved varieties of food crops
The clever and innovative use of ICT in data-intensive research makes it a simple matter to apply this technology in public and private R&D. In the plant sciences, eScience can promote scientific and industrial developments that will lead to improved varieties of food crops. The role of the eScience Center will be to create cohesion, prevent duplication and fragmentation as regards ICT, and identify generic ICT technologies.
Joining forces
Joining forces in this way fits in with the strategy of the eScience Center, in which Green Genetics is one of the priorities. Collaboration links up with the top innovation sector of Horticulture and Basic Materials designated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. It also builds on the existing ICT infrastructures and partnerships, for example that between the TTI GG and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
eScience for data-intensive research
The term “e-Science” (i.e. enhanced Science) refers to the use of ICT in data-intensive research, from fundamental research through to product development. eScience is a new type of R&D in which new ICT methods are developed in order to bring people, knowledge, and data together. eScience is an open form of scientific endeavour involving sharing large volumes of data taken from different sources and combining them within a single study. This offers major benefits as regards the quality and speed of the scientific process and the coordinated pursuit of science. Scientific and scholarly breakthroughs are increasingly taking place at the interface between disciplines and on the basis of joint efforts.
Netherlands eScience Center
The Netherlands eScience Center (NLeSC) – a unique initiative by SURF and the NWO – is the country’s primary centre for knowledge and expertise in its field. It works on broadly applicable ICT tools for multidisciplinary research with large quantities of data. This involves collaboration with universities and other knowledge institutions, but also with businesses. The Center’s aim is not to reinvent the wheel but to make use of existing knowledge and methods. The eScience Center is a network organisation that aims to change science. It focuses on promoting collaboration between researchers in different disciplines. More information: www.eScienceCenter.nl.
TTI GG is was set up in 2007 by Dutch plant breeders, Plantum NL (the organisation that represents the sector), and knowledge institutions with the aim of supporting and expanding research and teaching in this field on the basis of continuity. TTI GG receives funding from government, the commercial sector, and the knowledge institutions. TTI GG is an important conduit via which knowledge flows back and forth between the knowledge institutions and businesses on the basis of public-private collaboration.
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