Press Release

Media Contact:
Singapore: sec@apbionet.org

APBioNet Endorses and Adopts the Resolutions of The International Conference on Bioinfomatics 2002 as the APBioNet Bangkok Resolutions

SINGAPORE, May 20, 2002. At the recent International Conference on Bioinformatics, InCOB 2002, held in Bangkok, members of a distinguished panel including bioinformatics leaders such as Phil Bourne, Tim Hubbard, Winston Hide, Julio Collado and Carlos Morel, crafted a set of resolutions during the InCoB North-South Networking Mini-Symposium on 8 Feb 2002. The five resolutions were adopted today by the Asia Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNet) executive committee as the key thrusts for promoting bioinformatics in the Asia Pacific.

"As co-organisers of the Inaugural InCoB, APBioNet is absolutely delighted by the progress made during the conference," said Dr S Subbiah, President of APBioNet. "With the consensus that we have obtained from our membership, the APBioNet Secretariat will be initiating programmes and initiatives to implement these key resolutions."

"When I visited Thailand in 2000, I met with key leaders in BIOTEC and NECTEC. I was doubly pleased when both organisations, representing the leading agencies in Thailand for promoting Biotechnology and Networking Technology, teamed up to host this superbly organised conference." said Dr Shoba Ranganathan, Vice President of APBioNet and roving ambassador for bioinformatics in the region, having visited India, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, Japan, Australia in recent years to promote bioinformatics.

More than 300 participants from over 20 countries turned up in the first ever major international event in Asia specifically dedicated to bioinformatics organised by Asian organisations, led by Thailand's BIOTEC and NECTEC. A highlight of this conference which included keynote speakers who are luminaries in the Bioinformatics field such as Michael Waterman, was the North-South Networking Symposium, specifically organised to identify key areas of cooperation.

Said Dr Yongyuth Yuthavong, moderator of the Symposium, "The disparity in bioinformatics awareness and development in this region is particularly wide: from nations in the forefront of bioinformatics research to developing economies which have not even heard of this emerging discipline. We must make quick progress to eliminate the divide between the haves and have-nots. I am most pleased to hear that APBioNet has agreed to adopt these resolutions for implementation, and hope that other organisations and governmental agencies in our region will also follow suit."

Five key resolutions were adopted at the Symposium, details of which can be found at the web page http://www.apbionet.org/incob/apbionet-resolution.shtml. They include:

1. full integration of enabling bioinformatics techniques and technologies into biotechnology, healthcare and life sciences,
2. identification of specific areas of bioinformatics cooperation for synergy and complementation of strengths,
3. broad participation in aspects of information and software sharing,
4. building of a shared bioinformatics computational infrastructure, from the underlying advanced networking framework to computational hardware resources through a full cooperative programmatic effort of the entire bioinformatics community including industry, and
5. reinforcing and expanding areas of bioinformatics expertise through systematic and institutionalised human resource development, technical training, scientific exchanges, outreach and awareness at all levels of scientific manpower, including scientific policy makers and other decision makers.

Media Contact:
Secretariat
Asia Pacific Bioinformatics Network
sec@apbionet.org