Governance as a Foundation for Resilient Biodiversity Data Infrastructures: Lessons from DiSSCo

What this was about

Eva Alonso argues that governance is a "connective tissue" that makes research infrastructures resilient, distinguishing operational governance (budget, legal form, decision processes) from strategic-capability governance. Using DiSSCo, which becomes operational next year, she shows how inclusiveness is built into its statutes through a Nodes Advisory Committee and strategic agreements with third parties, and how keeping funders close (Funders Forum, then an Interim Council of more than 18 countries) brought nodes into national roadmaps. She also points to a Dutch coordination of 15 health and life-science infrastructures as a way to counter funding fragmentation.

Why it matters. Most resilience talk focuses on technology; this frames governance structures, funder relations and cross-infrastructure coordination as practical levers that decide whether infrastructures like DiSSCo survive political and funding shocks.

In the room

• Governance has two layers: operational mechanics (budget cycle, regulations, legal form, who decides how) and strategic-capability governance that lets infrastructures underpin competitiveness, innovation and resilience.
• Three governance elements matter most: inclusiveness of key actors from day one, facilitating translation of science into societally beneficial measures, and advocating against funding fragmentation and bias.
• DiSSCo's governance looks conventional (General Assembly, Director General, Executive Board, advisory bodies, national nodes), but its Nodes Advisory Committee is written into the statutes and advises on strategic direction.
• The statutes allow strategic agreements with third parties that are neither members nor funders but want to contribute to the mission.
• Keeping funders close took at least five years, moving from a non-decision-making Funders Forum to a decision-making Interim Council of more than 18 countries.
• Funding fragmentation pushes institutions into opportunistic behaviour; coordinated advocacy by several infrastructures (e.g. 15 Dutch health and life-science RIs) can counter it.
• Trade-offs remain: uncertain durability of joint governance, preserving uniqueness, tracing impact in short political cycles, and keeping people engaged.

Notable moments