Presentation Abstract: Introduction
Wendy Fineblum, Food Safety Risk Analysis Clearinghouse
Risk analysis is important in food safety because it can improve policy, and the transparency of its creation, as well as improve the safety of the food itself. Also, risk analysis can help ensure fair trade practices by reducing non-tariff barriers to trade by invalid safety objections. Several types of resources are necessary for using risk analysis in food safety, including data, models, software tools, as well as information about learning opportunities and access to other professionals. There are many advantages of providing resources on the Internet, including global availability, speed of updates and the enormous volume of resources that can be provided. Still, we face a major challenge in making these resources known to the many individuals within a diverse array of professions who may be able to use - and contribute to - them. We also face the challenge of changing this conglomerate of individuals into an "Internet Community" that can communicate across disciplinary boundaries to improve the science with intellectual cross-fertilization. Of course, communication should also include that among the groups providing the resources on the Internet; hence the purpose of this meeting. Today we will be hearing from several groups who are making, or are planning to make, resources available on the Internet. Then we will have a presentation from a user, who will give us his perspective on the needs of users internationally.
After the presentations, we will participate in discussions to evaluate the resources that we have provided, to explore the challenges that we face in making resources available, as well as to discuss the next steps that we should take toward establishing a food safety risk analysis community on the Internet.
I would also like to invite you to use the computers in front of you to visit the websites, especially of those groups that are not presenting today. Representatives of several of these groups are here today to help walk you through their respective sites.
