International Rice Informatics Consortium – How do we transform rice informatics?

 The primary emphasis of this opening workshop will be to discuss and develop a common vision for the future of rice informatics and how to effectively cooperate to reach the goals of this vision. 

 First, we will provide updates on the IRIC community, portal and the tools that will facilitate IRIC development and collaboration, and results from the 3K rice genome data analysis.  Members of the interim scientific advisory board will give input into IRIC needs, potential goals and the strategic path forward. 

 After the formal presentation, we will lead a discussion to help determine the form and shape IRIC will need to transform rice informatics and serve the community.  Hence, we seek your active involvement to address these basic questions:

1. What do we want IRIC to embody?
2. What steps need to be taken to achieve these goals?
3. What is needed to fully enable the platform?
4. What is the time frame for making this transformation a reality?

 Please come prepared with your ideas and be ready for the interactive section of this workshop.