Information on invasive alien species (IAS) from published and unpublished accounts and databases is often scattered in locations and formats not easily accessible. Informatics tools for collecting, organizing and sharing IAS information can help countries to better manage biological invasions. To overcome this challenge, the Invasives Information Network (I3N) of the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) created a distributed network of databases for the Americas which includes IAS experts, projects, and datasets. I3N is composed of in-country information providers working to implement common standards for IAS information exchange. Each national node controls its content, though information is documented, validated, and posted in a standard format. The use of a standard taxonomic authority (Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is promoted, a standard vocabulary is available in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and the Dublin Core Metadata Standard is also used. I3N technical representatives have played an important role in the development and adoption of biodiversity information standards by its parent organization, the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network, and by the Global Invasive Species Information Network.

Software tools to assist with cataloguing and distributed searching were developed by the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII, USA), Instituto Horus (Brazil), and Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina). The public can search the records for free from each country's website or from a single Web page. Invasive alien species profiles or fact sheets and occurrence information can be collected using the I3N Database for Invasive Alien Species Template, served on the Internet using the I3N Web Template, and exchanged in the globally recognized Extensible Markup Language (XML). I3N has also developed value added tools including risk assessment and pathways analysis protocols that use the information in the network for preventing new invasions. The I3N facilitates cooperation among countries and provides education and training on the importance of IAS information exchange and the use of I3N tools. Interest in the I3N concept and tools continues has spread beyond the Americas. Representatives in Africa and Asia are now seeking to collaborate with the I3N and learn how to implement similar networks in their own countries.