Platforms generally don’t move, but this one is decidedly different from the start.
During the launch workshop of GCP’s Molecular Breeding Platform, which took place in February 2010 in Hyderabad, India, one key issue raised by the meeting’s participants was the need to craft a new name for the project, and discontinue the project’s working title, which has thus far been ‘Molecular Breeding Platform’. GCP is pleased to announce the new name for this key project as the ‘Integrated Breeding Platform’ (or ‘IBP’).
The new name aims to more accurately present the all-encompassing nature of the project, contrary to the image conveyed by its former name: the IBP is not exclusively about molecular breeding.
The process behind the re-naming was, in traditional GCP style, a truly collaborative and consultative one, starting with participants at the February meeting above: they fronted several alternatives. From these suggestions, and after much (highly animated!) discussion, the GCP Management Team (MT) then narrowed down to three possible names, which were then tabled to the Platform’s User Committee (UC) and the Scientific and Management Committee (SiMAC). The three alternatives put to the vote were:
- Option 1: Innovative Breeding Platform
- Option 2: Integrated Breeding Platform
- Option 3: Global Breeding Platform
More details on the some of the perspectives and thinking behind the name change are in the Public Awareness Strategy (PPT from the February workshop) and the subsequent group discussions.
The response rate from the UC and SiMAC was extremely good! Once votes had been cast and results tallied, Option 2, the Integrated Breeding Platform, emerged as the definitive winner. The new name is effective yesterday, 13th April 2010. As such, instances of the former name and its derivative acronym (MBP) in the GCP website and other communications will be replaced with the new name.
GCP sincerely thanks all the IBP collaborators for their extremely valuable input in this preliminary step in the project’s branding, the first of several goals in the project’s public awareness strategy.
Read more on project at the Integrated Breeding Platform website