Partnerships with similar or related initiatives is a critical part of the network’s strategy, so that existing standards or protocols can be promoted and not reinvented.
For example, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is leading the world in the development of specimen data standards, which IABIN is promoting.
The current members of the IEC are: The network has existed in name since 1996 and in its early years, several critical Council meetings were held (in Brasília, Brazil, and in Miami, USA) which defined the general structure and proposed functions of IABIN.
In the initial years however, no Secretariat existed and the network benefited only from a number of small ad hoc investments, primarily from the United States, the World Bank, and the OAS.
The IABIN web site provides detailed information on a variety of projects and funding sources that are supporting the network and that are now coming on-line.
However, for the period of 2004-2010, a large GEF project has played a particularly important role in jumpstarting the network and implementing its strategies and priorities.