IOC Strategic Plan for Oceanographic Data and Information Management (2013-2016)

The most recent version of the strategic plan (2013-2016) was adopted by the IOC Assembly at its 27th Session (2013) through Decision IOC-XXVII/Dec. 5.3.4 (International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE).

It has been published as IOC Manuals and Guides No. 66 (see left)

The IOC Data and Information Management Strategy is for all data collected in IOC programmes. The vision is for

“A comprehensive and integrated ocean data and information system, serving the broad and diverse needs of IOC Member States, for both routine and scientific use.”

The concept of delivering a data and information service for the “global ocean commons” (i.e. global public good) is central to this vision. The objectives of the Strategy are to:

• Facilitate and promote the exchange of oceanographic data and information in compliance with the IOC Oceanographic Data Exchange Policy;
• Deliver a comprehensive distributed data system that can receive data collected by all IOC programmes and projects, as well as other marine science programmes, and deliver them in a uniform and transparent way to all users; and
• Deliver a system that can collect bibliographic and factual information from all IOC programmes, as well as other marine science programmes, and projects and deliver them in a uniform and transparent way to all users.
• Assembled, quality controlled and archived data on a diverse range of variables according to scientifically sound and well-documented standards and formats;
• Timely dissemination of data on a diverse range of variables (observations and model outputs) both on real-time and delayed modes depending on the needs of user groups and their technical capabilities (automatic dissemination as well as “on demand”); and
• Easy discovery and access to data and information on a diverse range of variables and derived products (including forecasts, alerts and warnings) by users who have a broad range of capabilities.
• Adhere to the IOC Oceanographic Data Exchange Policy;
• Ensure the long-term archival, management and services of oceanographic data and information;
• Recommended standards and best practice for management and exchange of oceanographic data;
• Acceptance and implementation of a set of interoperability arrangements, including technical specifications for collecting, processing, storing, and disseminating shared data, metadata and products;
• Discovery, access and retrieval of data from IOC programmes, as well as from programmes and organizations collaborating with IOC,  through the Ocean Data Portal (ODP), OceanDocs and the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) ;
• Continued development of Ocean Data and Information Networks (ODINs) backed up by OceanTeacher as a capacity building tool, whilst extending OceanTeacher through cooperation with JCOMM and others as appropriate;
• Development of appropriate metrics to help evaluate the data and information system;
• Provide the crucial link between data, information and the dissemination of knowledge through the management of marine information by marine librarians;
• Facilitate proper citation of datasets by providing all the required elements of a citation including a persistent identifier (an unambiguous, unchanging reference); and
• Governance by an Advisory Group represented by experts nominated by the governing bodies of IOC programmes.

The IOC Data and Information Management system resulting from this strategy will deliver:

The IOC Data and Information system will provide seamless access to the real-time and delay-mode oceanographic data and services across all IOC and related programmes, handling data from the point of collection, through processing and quality control, to archival and dissemination. The IODE developed Ocean Data Portal (ODP) will facilitate the exchange and dissemination of data and services from these systems and will be a key component to deliver the objectives of the IOC Data and Information Strategy. Data, metadata and information will be fully interoperable with the WMO Information System (WIS) and the ODP will function as a WIS Data Collection or Production Centre (DCPC) providing oceanographic data and services.

To ensure its success, the IOC Data and Information Strategy must achieve strong awareness, involvement, acceptance and recognition within and between IOC programmes, and with IOC partners. Efficient communication and outreach remain key elements of the Strategy.  Information about the IOC Data and Information Strategy, its development, data and information centres, standards, and implementation progress must be made available in an easy to understand form. By reaching out and serving user communities (scientists, policy makers, managers, educators, students, industries and businesses) will make data and information, including derived products, easily discoverable and accessible, so they can be used in the most efficient and user-friendly way.

The IODE capacity development strategy, implemented as Ocean Data and Information Networks or ODIN, provides a cost-effective and sustainable model for capacity building at the regional level. ODINs develop networks for managing and exchanging oceanographic data and information within the regions including contributing to ocean sciences, operational oceanography development and integrated coastal management and disaster reduction programmes at the regional level. ODINs also contribute to improving the provision of oceanographic data and information products and services to different users by sharing of expertise, knowledge transfer and capacity building and aim to become useful platforms for other IOC programmes. It is recommended to utilize the ODIN model as the capacity building mechanism for the IOC Data and Information Management Strategy.

The major elements of the Strategy are:

The greatest challenge to be faced in developing and implementing the IOC Data and Information Management Strategy is one of coordination and cooperation among Member States, partners and user communities. There are currently still major barriers to the efficient use and re-use of data, i.e. Open Data, and to overcome these, and make the best use of the new technologies available, a culture change is required. The information technology required to meet most of the requirements of the strategy, whilst challenging, can be developed from existing capabilities through relatively straightforward software engineering. But the strategy will only succeed if all participants actively use the data and metadata standards, communications protocols, software, and policies that will knit the parts into a fully integrated system.  

Note: information on the previous version of the Strategic Plan (2008-2011) can be found here