1. Module 2A Building GBIF Nodes II: creating strategies and plans Francisco [Paco] Pando -GBIF Spain-CSIC

2. Summary 1.WRITTING PROJECT PROPOSALS: We will review the basics on how to write proposals and some useful resources you can use when writing one. 2.PROJECT MANAGEMENT: We will review some basic concepts that we will use during the session. 3.INITIAL STEPS: It is important to assess the starting point and check that some foundations are properly set: the Node mandate, the appointment of the Node manager and Node host, allocation of funds, etc. 4.NODE ACTION PLAN: a node action plan should include a number of key components, that we will review in detail: a rationale, how to build the technical infrastructure, how to know and engage your community, a strategy for data need assessment and targeted data mobilization, plans for capacity enhancement, financial plans, node staffing plans and a risk analysis section.

3. Writting Project Proposals (1) Read RFP Identify: The goals of the program Partners Evaluation criteria Go-no go conditions/requisites Nice things Formal requirements Forms to fill Requested documentation Guidelines

4. Writting Project Proposals (2) Is this call a go? o Do your research Visit web page of donor Do you know anyone inside the system? Use him/her Find successful projects and use them as templates Identified a past funded project that fits into what you need or could do Identify and appropriate buzz language Examples Data provider / participant center Contributing to GBIF /setting up a new portal Data sharing / data repatriation Primary data /label data /specimen metadata Look for aids Phone numbers / addresses that take questions Subsidies to prepare projects Calls for feasibility studies Identify expected project size So aim for a project of the right size

5. Writting Project Proposals (3) Actual writing Add details but be as concise as you could be Pay attention to: Clarity Measurability Adherence to the proposal Follow the recommended lay-out Credibility You are going to do with the money what you say you are going to do. track record of the partnership You have to prove that you know how to do what you want to do (having done that before is the best way) Re-read; show draft proposals to other people, you need to provide a view of the forests, not the trees Fancy title

6. Writting Project Proposals (4) Known-nos Add extra results, objectives & tasks outside the scope of the call to make the project nicer. Extra results need resources that would be applied to tasks in which the donor (or the evaluators) are not interested. Lying Start too late Forget to make back-ups

7. Writting Project Proposals (5) Do if you can: – Evaluate projects – Do not punish the evaluators: Tidy lay-out Do not use cryptic acronyms or obscure references Provide summaries /numbers Make the proposal work without relying too much in hyperlinks

8. Writting Project Proposals (& 6) What else: – Difficult, hard to understand calls are the best – Many donors love: exit/sustainable strategies built-in Cross-cutting Synergy – Your views, your questions….

9. Project Management Concepts – Title – General objective – Specific objectives – Activities – Results – Indicators – Constrains: budget/scale of operations – Constrains: time

10. Project Management Useful tools & techniques Mind-maps Gantt Diagrams SWOT analyses http://www.xmind.net/

11. Project Management Ideas In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable. Dwight_D._EisenhowerDwight_D._Eisenhower> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doing the right thing is effectiveness; doing things right is efficiency. “Doing the right thing is more important than doing things right.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Management = planning + execution

12. Project Management I confess, I am a micro-manager – Few corporate executives aspire to be micro- managers. Management gurus condemn them. The ideal executive today is supposed to be a great delegator and motivator, not someone who tries to tell others how to do their jobs… – … what separates the winners from the losers is not their ideas, but their ability to execute... A CEO who is a micro-manager has the ability to cut through roadblocks and force uncooperative team members to take on audacious challenges that drive value...and get great results from it. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-11/in-praise-of- micromanagers

13. Initial Steps 1)Get to know your “ecosystem”; look at the big picture 2)Be ready to answer basic questions Data holders / publishers / custodians Collaborative framework & infrastructure A community of data users Interactions Participation & governance mechanisms Coordinating unit Products & services

14. The role and potential of a Participant BIF Build capacity Help identify data and information gaps Engage data holders Promote best practices in data management Identify user communities – assess end user needs Help address data & information needs Implement informatics infrastructure Coordinate data sharing activities Helpdesk Help develop information products and services Help formulate and adopt data sharing and manahgement policies Participant BIF Promote online publication of scientific data

15. Initial Steps Attitude: – Do not duplicate – Do not impose Identify your role Establish your position: – Size of operations – Mandate – Host – Governance – You, node manager Avoid: – To do just what we know how to do, – To talk only to the people we already know

16. Name Logo, Internet domain Start opening your channels, make the node visible Build team, build network Find champions Begin with a bullet-proof project …and start thinking of what will come later (remember you are making infrastructure) Initial Steps

17. Staff (Spanish example) 1.NM 2.Web content & trainning event coordination 3.SysAdmin 4.Data provider Support (technical) 5.Helpdesk, user support (digitalization applications, data quality) 6.Projects coordinator 7.Developer 1 8.Developer 2 Initial Steps

18. A suggested check-list for a GBIF Node Initial steps:  1. Conceptual framework established: priorities, scale of operation, mandate  2. Team identified to produce work plan  3. Work plan for a node and GBIF related activities produced  4. Funds allocated  5. ICT infrastructure in place  6. Web site in place  7. Survey of potential data providers completed  8. Data being served  9. Portal to node member's data in place Initial Steps

19. Node Action Plan Based on an strategic plan Based on the Node’s mandate …strategy based on a vision … has all the elements mentioned before (project management)

20. Node Action Plan What to do? What the country needs What the GBIF promoters in the country,-- the ones who are paying for the national node-- think the country needs and how GBIF is going to help with that Do Identify what your masters want Learn to talk the language of your masters, of your communities Have all the answers work to know what is in the country Keep record of everything; better digital, better on-line

21. Node Action Plan An example: GBIF Spain cc Introduction – Objectives, areas Activities – Operations – Projects Personel Budget Indicators Key events Training plan 22 pages

22. Node Action Plan Activities Operations All ongoing activities that are done on a continuous basis and conceived as services. Operations continue the core infrastructure: Running servers, helpdesk, data hosting, maintaining mail lists, forums, etc. Projects Multistep targeted actions with defined start and end times, and specific objectives. They may be infrastructure enhancements, singular events, corrective actions… In some cases projects may become operations

23. Node Action Plan “how to build the technical infrastructure” Scale matters What services to provide What local support you can get Datacenters vs. cloud Open source vs propietary ….. Many options, many approaches… this is an area where the human network of GBIF can really put you on the fast track, on the right track.

24. Node Action Plan “how to know and engage your community” How many psychologists are needed to change a light bulb? One, but the light bulb has to want to change Change has to come from inside … at the end it is all about trust and credibility, and that comes from consistency, capacity and honesty

25. Node Action Plan “a strategy for data need assessment and targeted data mobilization” ….I do not have one My approach to this is that GBIF Spain is part of the National Science Policy and Infrastructure … it is not up to us to set digitalization targets, that has to follow the national science priorities …but we may have a word on tactics (the “how” not the “what”)

26. Node Action Plan “plans for capacity enhancement” A cornerstone of GBIF Spain (next slide) It is much more than training… It is an outreach and a network consolidation strategy in itself (make us visible, useful, one of them….)

27. Training: latest highlights www.gbif.es/eLearning Gbifes.php Workshops on data quality, collection digitalization, and expanding Over 50% of students are from Latin- American countries E-Learning material repository http://elearning.gbif.es/AContent/ Training videos www.cienciatk.csic.es/documentos_por _coleccion/videos/GBIF/ Aprox. 10 short courses and workshops a year

28. “Financial plans” You need one Node Action Plan

29. Francisco Pando Coordination Unit, GBIF Spain Real Jardín Botánico - CSIC Claudio Moyano 1, 28014 Madrid pando@gbif.es www.gbif.es http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/es/ >