Rapidly changing environmental conditions and the increasing establishment of invasive alien species present many challenges for policy makers, managers and researchers. The traditional policies for data management, or lack thereof, are obstructing an adequate response to invasive alien species, which requires accurate and up-to-date information. This information can only be provided if data regarding invasive alien species are available and useable by all, irrespective of country, status or purpose. The best way forward is for researchers to publish their data openly, by making use of repositories in which the data are licenced in a permissive manner, while making sure they are credited by the adequate provision of citation. Reducing the barriers to data sharing will improve our ability to respond to the growing issue of biological invasions.

The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is a global network of scientific and policy experts on invasive species, organized under the auspices of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSG aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native species they contain by increasing awareness of invasive alien species, and of ways to prevent, control or eradicate them. Since its establishment, over two decades ago, ISSG has taken the lead on collating, managing and disseminating global invasive species information, promoting practitioner networks and supporting development of policy and regulation aimed at reducing the insidious threat of biological invasions. All this has been accomplished through the development of knowledge products (such as the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD)), promoting dynamic networks such as Aliens-L, advocacy and publications. ISSG has actively catered to emerging needs with activities directed at key areas such as islands, threatened species, protected areas and developing invasive species indicators to support prioritising and monitoring management action. ISSG is working with partners advancing the adoption of a standardised framework of pathway categories and developing criteria for the ranking of known invasive species based on the type and magnitude of impacts. ISSG through participation in the Global Invasive Alien Species Information Partnership (GIASIPartnership) is working with other information providers supporting countries with current and authoritative information to effectively implement Article 8(h), Aichi Biodiversity Target 9 and other related decisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) such as the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

The Global Invasive Species Information Network (GISIN) was conceptualized in 2004 to aggregate and disseminate invasive species data in a standardized way. A decade later the GISIN community has implemented a data portal and three of six GISIN data aggregation models in the GISIN data exchange Protocol, including invasive species status information, resource URLs, and occurrence data. The portal is based on a protocol developed by representatives from 15 countries and 27 organizations of the global invasive species information management community. The GISIN has 19 data providers sharing 34,343 species status records, 1,693,073 occurrences, and 15,601 resource URLs. While the GISIN's goal is to be global, much of its data and funding are provided by the United States. Several initiatives use the GISIN as their information backbone, such as the Great Lakes Early Detection Network (GLEDN) and the North American Invasive Species Network (NAISN). Here we share several success stories and organizational challenges that remain.

The European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN) was launched in 2012 by the European Commission to facilitate the exploration of existing alien species information and to assist the implementation of European policies on biological invasions. At the core of EASIN, there is an inventory of all known alien and cryptogenic species in Europe (the EASIN Catalogue, herein published), which includes relevant information, such as taxonomic classification, pathways of introduction, year and country of first introduction. Spatial records of species occurrence in Europe are stored in the EASIN geo-databases, integrating data from many data providers and the literature. All this information is publicly available through a widget framework, providing easy to use and flexible tools for searching and mapping. The EASIN datasets have been used for pan-European or regional assessments of pathways and gateways of alien invasions, towards the fulfilment of the related targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity and of European policies. Moreover, in support of the new EU Regulation on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species in Europe, an Early Warning and Rapid Response System is being developed by EASIN.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Database has tracked introductions of freshwater aquatic organisms in the United States for the past four decades. A website provides access to occurrence reports, distribution maps, and fact sheets for more than 1,000 species. The site also includes an on-line reporting system and an alert system for new occurrences. We provide an historical overview of the database, a description of its current capabilities and functionality, and a basic characterization of the data contained within the database.

The ‘CIESM Atlas of exotic species in the Mediterranean’ galvanized attention and garnered recognition for the unique situation concerning bioinvasions in the Mediterranean Sea, and promoted documentation of the full extent of the diversity of ‘exotic’ species. The volume comprising decapod and stomatopod crustaceans was published in 2002, and has been accompanied by a popular digital edition, updated in 2008, listing 70 species, with an average of 7400 visits annually. Additional species have been recorded in recent years, few more were recorded prior of the temporal limits adopted in the Atlas. The full list of decapods (89) and stomatopods (2) recorded as ‘exotic’ in the Mediterranean Sea since the 1870 is presented. Recommendations as to terminology, taxonomic expansion and usage of innovative information and communication technologies are offered. The ‘Atlas’, intended to allow non-specialists to recognize the ‘exotic’ species recorded in the Mediterranean Sea, is the only open source for data focusing exclusively on the bioinvasion of the Mediterranean – a valued and irreplaceable resource.

The Marine Biosecurity Porthole was created in 2010 as a collaboration between New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) to provide greater public access to information and data on non-indigenous marine species (NIMS) in New Zealand. The porthole is primarily an interactive mapping application that allows verified observations on the distribution of NIMS within New Zealand to be displayed. It draws upon data compiled from a range of funded surveys for NIMS, including a series of port biological baseline surveys and a continuing programme of targeted surveillance for high risk marine pests in major shipping ports and marinas. The data also include records from specimens reported via the passive surveillance system and identified through the Marine Invasives Taxonomic Service (MITS), a taxonomic clearing house service for suspect marine organisms, and observations of NIMS made through taxonomic and ecological research undertaken by NIWA. It currently contains information for over 3,600 native, cryptogenic and non-indigenous marine species with links to over 155,000 individual distribution records. Additional features include a searchable catalogue of relevant reports, papers and information about NIMS and on the surveys undertaken to obtain the data. The design and functionality of the portal have been refreshed to provide a better overall experience for users. New features will allow greater filtering and selection of distribution data, more content on NIMS within New Zealand, and connections to social media.

ELNAIS is a dynamic online information platform aiming to collect and report spatial information on Aquatic Alien Species in Greek waters. It covers freshwater, marine and estuarine waters, including not only established aliens but also casual records and cryptogenic species. The ELNAIS system includes: News, List of Greek experts, Literature of findings in Greece, List of species with information on their first introduction date and source as well as photos and distribution maps. Data providers are the scientific community (publications, grey literature, and databases) as well as citizen scientists. ELNAIS provides a useful tool towards national obligations and commitments under both the European and global frameworks in respect to Non Indigenous Species (CBD, WFD, MSFD).

A coherent response to biological invasions involves science-based, up-to-date prioritization tools alongside information transfer to relevant authorities and stakeholders. Here, we describe how the collaboration between scientists and policy makers in Belgium has allowed the development of decision support tools regarding invasive alien species. We present the environmental impact assessment protocol ISEIA and comment on its applications. Furthermore, we describe and provide metadata for the information system Harmonia which was developed to disseminate this information to a diverse audience. Using several examples of initiatives addressing the threat of invasive alien species in Belgium, we show how these tools have been instrumental in strengthening capacity of the scientific community, authorities and stakeholders in Belgium on addressing the invasive alien species issue.

Since 2006, the ‘VLIZ Alien Species Consortium’ has collected data and information on species that were introduced by humans in marine and brackish habitats and have established reproducing populations in the study area. The consortium consists of a network of experts in marine and brackish environments in Belgium, representing more than 22 different institutions and supported by a secretariat hosted at Flanders Marine Institute VLIZ. Evidence on invasiveness is reported for 12 of the 73 alien species that are currently included in the checklist for the study area (October 2014). The network brings together scientific information from distributed sources in a central platform. It is a first step to developing an evidence-based approach to inform environmental policy objectives for Belgian marine waters and support effective measures to address invasive alien species in the study area. The information platform and species checklist are presented, approaches for collection and integration of information are described, and opportunities for collaboration between information systems at different governance levels are briefly discussed.

New technologies such as smartphone application software (apps) are increasingly used to reach a wider audience on the subject of invasive alien species (IAS) and to involve the public in recording them. In this paper we present two of the more recent smartphone applications for IAS recording in northwest Europe, the RINSE That’s Invasive! app and the KORINA app. We present an overview of available smartphone apps for IAS recording in Europe and address issues of data integration, data openness, data quality, data harmonisation and database interoperability. Finally, we make some recommendations for future app design.