MBIGS

MBIGS is a hypothetical open-source framework designed to coordinate multi-institutional geoscience research by enabling interoperable storage, processing, and sharing of diverse data types, including geospatial rasters, time-series measurements, and instrument metadata. It emphasizes modular design and standards-based interoperability, aiming to reduce data silos across organizations.

The architecture centers on a core data model and a service layer with APIs, plus plug-in modules for domain-specific analytics. A central data repository supports data ingestion, provenance tracking, and versioning, while metadata schemas capture lineage, permissions, and quality metrics. Clients provide discovery, visualization, and workflow orchestration.

Governance is envisioned as a community-led consortium with representatives from academia, government, and industry. MBIGS would be released under an open-source license, with transparent contribution guidelines, code reviews, and regular interoperability tests to ensure compatibility among components and deployments.

As a concept, MBIGS exists in reference implementations and pilot studies that illustrate data interoperability challenges and best practices. Supporters highlight improvements in data discoverability and reproducibility; critics point to the complexity of building and sustaining a broad, standards-driven ecosystem.