Phase 1.  Exploration, February 2006 to October 2008:  A proposal by the Netherlands delegation to OECD’s Global Science Forum leads to two exploratory workshops in Leiden and Washington.  These workshops produced preliminary plans for an international coordinating mechanism for collection.  The Global Science Forum approved an 18-month planning period that would produce an implementation plan for the proposed coordinating mechanism.

Phase 2.  Organizational planning and community consultation, October 2008 to April 2010:  Two steering committee meetings were held and three working groups developed a strategic plan, program of work, governance model, business plan, and outreach campaign for Scientific Collections International (SciColl).  An international conference was held in Brussels in February 2010 to gather input from the research communities and stakeholders.  The Steering Committee submitted an implementation plan and supporting documents to the Global Science Forum in April 2010 and delegates invited the committee to proceed with implementation.

Phase  3.  Membership development, April 2010 to May 2011:  The SciColl Steering Committee will solicit expressions of interest in becoming SciColl members from governments and institutions.  If there is sufficient interest, representatives of governments and institutions that have expressed interest will form an Interim Executive Board in February 2011 to finalize SciColl’s Terms of Reference and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed by SciColl members.  Members will be asked to sign the MOU beginning in April 2011 at which time they will make financial commitments for a three-year period.

Phase 4.  Organizational launch and implementation, May 2011 to late 2013:  Governments and institutions that have signed the MOU and made financial commitments will:

• elect members of an Executive Board that would make operational decisions,
• issue a call for proposals to host the Secretariat Office and select a host country and institution,
• advertise for and select an Executive Secretary,
• create and adopt Terms of Reference with a detailed governance structure,
• implement a program of work, and
• monitor progress against a set of deliverables defined by SciColl members.

Phase 5.  Full implementation, beyond late 2013.  Based on its achievements, impact, and perceived return on investment, SciColl will attract sufficient members and financial commitments for continued operation through successive renewal periods.