Today, on Monday July the 6th, the Bioinformatics Barcelona association has been founded, with 25 member organisations including universities, research centres, hospital research institutes, major scientific infrastructures, companies in the technological, bioinformatics and pharmaceutical sector and other entities including Vall D'Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR). Dr. Joan Comella, VHIR's scientific director, was present at the signing ceremony. Furthermore, 23 more accession entities showed interest in being part of it. The members of the first board of directors are: Dra. Ana Ripoll (UAB) as the president, Arcadi Navarro (UPF) as the secretary and Dr. Alfons Nonell (Mind the Byte) as the treasurer.The research area of bioinformatics is the application of computer science and information technologies to the management of biological information. This multidisciplinary activity improves the potential for creation of knowledge and transfer of technology. Bioinformatics is used in all areas of life sciences and has a profound impact on a wide range of fields including health, food industry and biotechnology in general.In the recent years it has become a strategic science to make sense of the huge amount of data (big data) that is growing exponentially in a constant way. The great bioscientific challenge currently consists of being able to manage and take advantage of such information deluge and to transform them into new knowledge of socio-economic impact.In the field of biomedicine, for instance, this will allow to improve the understanding of the development of diseases, the progression and to make progress towards personalised medicine.The aim of BIB is to become a catalyst of initiatives in advanced research, knowledge and technology transfer among research groups, hospitals and the corporate sector of biotechnologic, pharmaceutical and agri-food profile. Also carrying out training programmes that will allow to incorporate specialised talent and to respond to the demand for different bioinformatic profiles.In order to achieve these goals, the association will cooperate with all the agents and actors in the quadruple helix (government, universities and centers of expertise, companies and civil society) to encourage collaborative initiatives and dynamic that will allow Barcelona and Catalonia to become a top scientific cluster in Southern Europe and a strategic node thanks to a highly competitive ecosystem and an extraordinary geographic location open to the world.The first already existing initiave of BIB has been the design of innovating training programmes in the country. Firstly, the two-year studies of vocational education in computer science have been defined geared towards bioinformatics that will begin classes next scholastic year 2015-16, and secondly, the curriculum for the first three-year inter-university degree in Bioinformatics has been defined into the Catalan university system, expected to start for scholastic year 2016-17.Bioinformatics Barcelona is also supported by the Government of Catalonia and “la Caixa” Foundation.Members of Bioinformatics Barcelona (BIB)Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)Universitat Ramon Llul (URL)Universitat de Vic (UVic-UCC)Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV)Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)Centre de Recerca en Agrigenòmica (CRAG)Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG, CNAG)Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (CRM)Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC)Institut de Recerca Biomèdica (IRB Barcelona)Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR)aScidea Computational Biology SolutionsBITAC MAPIN2, Ingeniería de la InformaciónLaboratorios del Dr. EsteveLaboratorios OrdesaMind the ByteRoche DiagnosticsSequentia BiotechFundació Catalana per a la Recerca i la Innovació (FCRi)Institució Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (i-CERCA)Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC)Fundació Escoles Universitàries Gimbernat (EUG)Institut ProvençanaEntities that requested to become part of Bioinformatics Barcelona (BIB)Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)Universitat de Barcelona (UB)Universitat de Girona (UdG)Universitat de Lleida (UdL)Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centre Nacional de Supercomputació (BSC-CNS)Institut de Recerca en Tecnologies Agroalimentàries(IRTA)Institut de Salud Global Barcelona (ISGlobal)Corporació Sanitària Parc TaulíConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mèdiques(IMIM)Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS)Vall d’Hebron Institut Oncològic (VHIO)Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya (Eurecat)Atos - BullIBMMicrosoftTelefónicaAgència de Qualitat i Avaluació Sanitàries (AQuAS)Ajuntament de Sant CugatCol·legi Oficial d’Enginyeria Informàtica de Catalunya (COEINF)Escola Superior d’Administració i Direcció d’Empreses (ESADE)Fundació Víctor Grífols i LucasMobile World Capital (MWC)