Generation challenge programme (GCP) domain modeling and crop information platform

What is the Generation Challenge Programme? The Generation Challenge Programme (GCP; http://www.generationcp.org) is a global research consortium that currently comprises centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), advanced research institutes (ARIs), and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) in developing countries. Utilizing advances in molecular biology, the GCP aims to develop a new generation of crops that better meet the needs of resource poor. What is the Crop Information Platform? Critical to the success of such genomics-driven plant breeding is the development of a Crop Information Platform. Its primary objectives are to integrate the distributed information resources of the consortium members and provide an improved set of bioinformatics applications. To achieve this aim, the GCP?s Crop Information Platform centers on the creation of a Domain Model. The Domain Model is the central part of the Crop Information Platform; it is an abstract representation of the data being produced within the GCP, this abstraction spans entities for germplasm, genotyping, phenotyping, genomics and geographical data. By modeling all types of data in one coordinated effort, it is hoped that standard data formats for storage, interchange, analysis and visualization of this data can be developed. Having now released a stable version of the Domain Model, future work will focus on furthered development and integration of applications, data sources and data consumers with the Crop Information Platform The GCP Crop Information Platform is entirely open source with the software and technical documentation hosted at http://pantheon.generationcp.org. (Texte integral)