[3] The mission of iDigBio is to develop a national infrastructure that supports the vision of ADBC by overseeing implementation of standards and best practices for digitization; building and deploying a customized cloud computing environment for collections; recruiting and training personnel, including underserved groups; engaging the research community, collections community, citizen scientists, and the public through education and outreach activities; and planning for long-term sustainability of the national digitization effort.

Ultimately, ADBC will further the discovery and understanding of biological diversity, and iDigBio will engage the research, collections, and education communities in a spirit of collaboration that will open biological research collections to new downstream user communities.

Creation of the permanent digitized repository is occurring in four stages: iDigBio is the national resource for digitized information about vouchered natural history collections within the context established by the NIBA community strategic plan and is supported through funds from the NSF ADBC program.

As such, iDigBio serves as the administrative home for the national digitization effort; fosters partnerships and innovations; facilitates the determination and dissemination of digitization practices and workflows; establishes integration and interconnectivity among the data generated by collection digitization projects; and promotes the uses of biological/paleontological collections data by the scientific community and stakeholders including government agencies, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other national and international entities to benefit science and society through enhanced research, educational, and outreach activities.

Through the iDigBio HUB cyberinfrastructure, compilation and the inter-linking of data from the TCNs and existing collaborative databases will create opportunities to address research questions and education interests regarding biodiversity, climate change, species invasions, natural disasters, and the spread of pests and diseases.