WFCC-MIRCEN World Data Centre for Microorganisms(WDCM), established in 1966serves as the global hub for microbial resource data management under the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) and UNESCO’s Microbial Resources Centers Network (MIRCEN). As the global microbial resources data center, WDCM has a long-standing commitment to developing and applying cutting edge Information Technology to improve access to and use of data and information, to optimize the interoperability of microbial data, and to facilitate the exchange of open data and, in so doing, to support international open science exchanges as well as cooperation between scientists from culture collections and other user communities.

Mission & Objectives

WDCM aims to democratize microbial data access, advance scientific research, and address global challenges like climate change and pandemics. Core missions include:

• Building an open, standardized global microbial data infrastructure.
• Leading international standardization (e.g., ISO 21710:2020 for data management).
• Fostering global collaboration through projects like the Global Cooperation Initiative on Pathogen Genomics.

Functional Positioning

As the world’s largest microbial data platform, WDCM provides:

• Data Integration: Hosting over 6PB of data from 878 institutions across 80 countries, including genomic, metagenomic, and pathogen databases.
• Standardized Tools: Developing protocols for data quality control and sharing (e.g., GCM Meta, gcPathogen).
• Technical Support: Offering AI-driven analysis pipelines and privacy-preserving computation platforms.
• Global Networking: Facilitating partnerships via regional nodes and international consortia.

WDCM homepage link: https://www.wdcm.org