The Genesys Advisory Committee met last October to discuss how to grow and develop the platform. The goals for the next three years are to meet the needs of partner genebanks while continuously improving the website.
The Genesys Advisory Committee is a group of plant genetic resources experts that meets on a quarterly basis with the Genesys Team to catch up on the latest developments and help plan for the future.
The Committee met on 24-25 October 2022 in Bonn, Germany to discuss the development strategy for Genesys for the next three years. The committee recognized that the conflicting requirements and expectations of genebanks on one side and users of genebank data on the other must be balanced, but making sure partner genebanks are happy with the service they receive is crucial for the platform's success.
Genesys has seen increases in the number of accessions, datasets, users, and requests for material in 2022. We developed tools such as Embedded Genesys, which allows genebanks to integrate their data directly into institutional websites, and the Subsetting Tool, which generates subsets of accessions based on climatic and soil conditions at collecting sites.
The group conducted a SWOT analysis for Genesys, and discussed existing partnerships and the characteristics that define them as either fruitful or frustrating. It identified shared vision, robust institutional arrangements, and long-standing collaboration as factors that contribute to strong partnerships. Frustrating partnerships are characterized by a perceived lack of priority for Genesys specifically or genebank data management in general, a perceived fear of losing ownership of data, and limited resources. To maintain and improve partnerships, the group suggested actions such as understanding the organizational structures and staff complements of partner genebanks, increasing the visibility of Genesys, and giving more back to partners through useful tools such as Embedded Genesys.
The Committee highlighted the diverse nature of partners, including national and international genebanks, as well as PGR networks, which all require different approaches. Stronger partnerships lead to improved data and increased Genesys visibility. While larger, often international, genebanks and PGR networks can maintain strong partnerships with Genesys without additional resources, smaller, often national, genebanks may require financial support to build both for staff capacity and infrastructure.
The document Genesys Strategy 2023-2025 provides guidance to the Genesys Team at the Crop Trust for the prioritization of activities in the coming three years, building upon the existing solid base. The full document is accessible through this link.