Study for the European Commission on technical aspects of digital sequence information. The report adopts a Sustainable Social Ecological Systems approach to the analysis of DSI and argues that biodiversity is not free but has to be paid for. On that basis any option on DSI should generate revenue for biodiversity. The report analyses the relationship between samples and sequence data using the US NCBI Biosamples database before turning to consideration of open licences for DSI, blockchain and the possibility of infrastructure based fees from cloud computing to generate income for biodiversity. The paper concludes by arguing for a framework approach to DSI that generates revenue for investment into biodiversity from multiple income generating options.

The research was funded by the European Commission DG Environment under contract number 070202/2019/814726/PO/ENV.F.3. The content of this study does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the study lies entirely with the author.