Under the call ‘Aviso N.º 01/SAICT/2016 - Sistema de Apoio à Investigação Científica e Tecnológica (SAICT) - Projetos de Infraestruturas de Investigação inseridas no Roteiro Nacional de Infraestruturas de Investigação de Interesse Estratégico (RNIE)’ aims to strengthen the technical and scientific capacity of high-impact research infrastructures included in the National Roadmap of Research Infrastructures of Strategic Interest, including integration into European R&D networks (e.g. ESFRI), allowing them to be a strategic pillar in the development of research excellence at national and international level.

To achieve general aims and specific goals for the implementation of the e-Infrastructure - PORBIOTA project was organized in 10 work packages (WPs) structured as follows:

- Data source and infrastructure management (WP1-2 and WP3);

- Operation and data science (WP6 and WP7-8);

- E-Infrastructure (WP4-5, WP6 and WP8);

- Policy and communication management (WP9 and WP10).

The main specific goals are:

i. To promote the identification, registry, mobilization, and organization of biodiversity and environmental data available.

ii. To establish a national monitoring system for genetic, systems, and ecosystem diversity and environmental quality, including a network of long-term ecological research sites (LTER Portugal) and a network of observation stations on ecosystem-atmosphere interaction (ICOS Portugal).

iii. To establish data models and standardized schema for data storage, retrieval, and exchange, thereby operationalizing the use and dissemination of data obtained from extant databases, contributing to provide the capacity for handling vast amounts of data and to implement complex computational routines, developing new cost-effective technological tools for biodiversity and environmental data collection.

iv. To encourage the use of the e-Infrastructure PORBIOTA, including the data and analytic tools, thereby increasing its application in support for management policies and in dissemination, outreach and training.

v. To enhance collaboration and consolidate the role of Portugal in research international infrastructures and networks, particularly with those addressing similar themes such as LIFEWATCH ERIC, eLTER, ICOS, GBIF and DiSSCo.