Interagency Working Group on Plant Genomics (IWGPG)

The first National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI) Five-Year Plan was issued in 1998, established as a coordinated national research program by the Interagency Working Group on Plant Genomes (IWGPG) under the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council. This initial Plan, which focused on plants of economic importance and plant processes of potential economic value, strove to understand the structure and function of all plant genes at levels from the molecular to the organismal levels and on to interactions within ecosystems. NPGI activities have since been coordinated through three Five Year Plans (1998-2001, 2002-2008, and 2009-2013)¹. In November 2012, the IWGPG was re-established under the Life Sciences Sub Committee of the Committee on Science to continue this mission by engaging the plant science community in prioritizing genomics tools and resources, defining new strategies that will meet these needs sustainably, advancing biological innovation and breakthrough discovery, and improving coordination among Federal agencies and international plant genomics partners.

The updated goal of the NPGI, which adheres to the original guiding principles of openly accessible data and resources, interagency coordination, rigorous and competitive scientific peer review, and public-private-international partnerships, is to develop a basic knowledge of the structures and functions of plant genomes and translate this knowledge to a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of economically important plants and plant processes of potential economic value. By bridging basic research and plant performance in the field, the NPGI seeks to accelerate basic discovery and innovation in economically important plants and enable enhanced management of agriculture, natural resources, and the environment to meet societal needs.

In this workshop, the IWGPG will present the new NPGI 2014-2018 Strategic Plan. A wide range of stakeholder input was used to develop this plan, including an open workshop held one year ago here, at PAG XXI. The new objectives were based on this community input, and focus on open access, data sharing, and interoperability of tools and databases to improve the practice of agriculture, reduce the demands on environmental resources, and address challenges posed by global climate change. This workshop will cover some of the exciting accomplishments from the last five years as well as lay out the objectives for 2014-2018.

All are welcome to attend and participate!

^1 http://www.nsf.gov/bio/pubs/reports/npgi_five_year_plan_2009_2013.pdf