The distinction, announced in Oslo during the 33rd meeting of the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) Governing Board, recognized the tool developed by Santos, which aims to enhance the accuracy of biodiversity data's geographic location. The open-source platform georeference.it enables community collaboration in identifying and validating coordinates, contributing to the quality and reliability of records.
The award ceremony took place after evaluating 66 applications from 31 countries. The winning tool operates through a consensus validation system, seeking to fill information gaps and correct potential errors in the geographic coordinates of biodiversity occurrence records.
This marks the third time a Portuguese individual has received recognition in this challenge, which honors Ebbe Schmidt Nielsen, a co-founder of GBIF. Previously, Miguel Bastos Araújo was the first Portuguese winner in 2013, and Miguel Porto was a finalist in 2015. The award encourages the development of tools that support scientific research and public policies based on open-access data.
Portugal, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and with its support, is a member of GBIF. This international organization is dedicated to coordinating the standardization, digitization, and global dissemination of data on world biodiversity, for the benefit of science and society.
