After much demand, the Digital Data Conference made a comeback! Digital Data 2026: Enabling Science Through Integrated Biodiversity Data was held as a virtual event on June 2-4, 2026.

This conference again brought the community together to explore how integrated biodiversity data enable research, innovation, and impact across disciplines.

• The agenda included six plenary speakers, 21 oral presentations, 10 posters, 11 extended sessions, and 14 virtual exhibitors.
• 44 countries were represented across the globe for this event with over 275 attendees participating live and close to 400 registered total with instant access to the recordings and the other features associated with the conference.

Themes for this year’s conference included:

• From Specimens to Systems: Showcasing digitization in action through TCN successes and community spotlights connecting collections data at scale.
• Building Shared Biodiversity Infrastructure: Collaborating across institutions to advance data integration, management, and project coordination.
• Standards, Tools, and Workflows in Practice: Supporting trustworthy, well-documented biodiversity data through innovation in digitization, tools, and data quality.
• Enabling Science Through Integrated Biodiversity Data: Research, cyberinfrastructure, and real-world data applications.
• Sustaining Collections in a Digital World: Aligning people, platforms, and practices for long-term stewardship and impact.
• Equity, Ethics, and Responsible Data Use: Exploring inclusive, thoughtful, and responsible approaches to sharing, managing, and using biodiversity data.
• Intelligent Systems for Biodiversity Science: Integrating AI-driven methods to enhance collections data, interoperability, and scientific insight.

If you missed out on attending live, you can still view the valuable insights shared with the community on our YouTube Playlist.