Edmonton – November 6, 2025 – RDAR, a major Canadian agriculture research funder, Genome Alberta, and Genome British Columbia are pleased to announce the development of the Agriculture Metadata Commons, a digital database designed to organize and disseminate information about agriculture genomics research data.
Genomics is the big data science that helps us understand DNA – the code of life. With advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, we are beginning to unlock a whole other level of insight from large data sets.
To read the Press Release and learn more, please visit: RDAR Partners with Genome Alberta and Genome BC to Boost Agriculture Research Data Access and Collaboration Across Canada
About the Agriculture Metadata Commons
The Agriculture Metadata Commons aims to bridge long-standing gaps in data access by cataloguing the metadata, information about research datasets, rather than the data itself. This makes it easier to identify what data exists, where it’s stored, and who’s responsible for it.
Genomics generates massive amounts of data that must be responsibly organized, interpreted, and shared to unlock insights for real-world impact. However, research data often remains siloed, which limits visibility, collaboration, and efficiency across the sector.
The Agriculture Metadata Commons will be available to users in 2026. Stakeholder engagement will be wrapping up in late 2025, and beta testing will take place in early 2026. Data seekers, including researchers, research funders, companies and other organizations, will be able to search detailed information about datasets, including those generated from Genome Alberta’s funded portfolio of research into Agriculture and Agri-food. This portfolio has a value of $207M. Information will include high level project descriptions, study design details, and precise identification of samples used to generate data across the livestock, crop, and soil sub-sectors. The Agriculture Metadata Commons will provide a quick and easy reference for relevant genomic data to kick-start additional innovation opportunities and connect potential collaborators.
For more information:
Tom Finn
Sector Innovation Manager – Agriculture & Agri-food Sector
tfinn@genomealberta.ca
