GA4GH Inc.

GA4GH Inc. is a not-for-profit organisation, incorporated under the federal laws of Canada, that serves as the legal entity of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health. GA4GH Inc. provides a stable organisational structure and enables additional capabilities on top of those provided by the GA4GH Host Institutions.

As a legal entity that can hold assets and enter into contracts, the not-for-profit supports a legal framework for intellectual property, ensures freedom to operate, and maintains GA4GH’s ability to provide open standards for the international genomics community. It may enter into binding contractual agreements with other organisations, such as complementary standards development organisations, and accept sponsorship funding from private sector entities.

GA4GH Inc. is governed by a Board of Directors — nine people nominated by the GA4GH community, with input especially from the Core Funders Forum. The management committee of GA4GH Inc. mirrors the members of the GA4GH Executive Committee, which oversees the strategic direction of the entire Alliance.

The purpose of GA4GH Inc. is to accelerate progress in genomic science and human health by supporting the development of standards and policy for responsible genomic and health-related data use. GA4GH Inc. achieves this by collaborating with the international genomics community to identify, create, and promote the adoption of the technical specifications and policy frameworks needed to share data, holding and protecting intellectual property for genomic and health-related data sharing standards, and establishing agreements with other organisations involved in developing frameworks and standards for the exchange, integration, and sharing and retrieval of genomic and health data.