Over 567 individuals and 22 large scientific organizations, and still
counting, have signified their support to equitable and open policy
solutions for Digital Sequence Information (DSI) through signing the
open letter released by the DSI Scientific Network.

According to the letter, the signatories recognize that this is a
critical time for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the
outcomes of the Conference of Parties in 2022 (COP 15) will influence
the use and access to DSI in the coming years. Thus, they call on the
Parties to the CBD to:

* Ensure that researchers are given a voice in the process of
developing national positions, in the weighing of DSI options, and
in formal and informal CBD processes.
* Listen to calls from the scientific community for multilateral
benefit-sharing approaches that incentivize the generation and
contribution of DSI to the global system.
* Ensure that the outcomes of these negotiations reflect the reality
of the scientific process and account for the thousands of
interlinked databases that currently serve billions of sequences to
millions of users around the world.
* Support open access to DSI. Open access drives research and
innovation, improves scientific reproducibility, enables rapid
responses to public health crises, facilitates capacity building and
international collaborations, and promotes training and education.
* Learn from the experience of the Nagoya Protocol and other treaties,
and avoid new systems for DSI that would increase regulatory
complexity and costs of research, disproportionately affecting
developing countries where resources are particularly scarce.

Open Letter â?? DSI Scientific Network
[www.dsiscientificnetwork.org]