IODE-XXVII Decisions and Recommendations

IODE-XXVII DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Decision IODE-XXVII.3.3.1.3            Underway Sea Surface Salinity Data Archiving Project (GOSUD)

Decision IODE-XXVII/9.1                  Establishment of an Inter-Sessional Working Group on the Review of IODE Structure and Working Methods

Recommendation IODE-XXVII.6.2   The IOC Strategic Plan for Ocean Data and Information Management (2023-2029)

Recommendation IODE-XXVII.6.4    IOC Data Policy and Terms of Use (2023)

Recommendation IODE-XXVII.8.4   IODE Work Plan and Budget 2023-2024

DECISIONS

Decision IODE-XXVII.3.3.1.3

Underway Sea Surface Salinity Data Archiving Project (GOSUD)

The IODE Committee,

Recalling Recommendation IODE-XVI.10 that established the Underway Sea Surface Salinity Data Archiving Pilot Project,

Noting with appreciation the achievements of the Pilot Project since its establishment in 2000,

Noting that the Ocean Observations Panel for Physics and Climate (OOPC) considers sea surface salinity data as critical for the study of the decadal and longer time-scale variations associated with deep ocean overturning,

Acknowledging the continuing need to build effective international management of these data in cooperation with data providers and users to meet the requirements for temporal and spatial sampling resolution and measurement accuracy set forth by the OOPC, 

Expressing appreciation to France and the United States of America for the provision of the data through the GDAC hosted by the Coriolis data centre (France) and daily back-up (permanent archived) by NCEI (NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information).

Decides to close the Underway Sea Surface Salinity Data Archiving Pilot Project,

Decides to establish the “Underway Sea Surface Salinity Data Archiving Project” with the Terms of Reference as attached in Annex A, and terms of reference of the Steering Group as attached in Annex B to this decision,

Invites the IOC Member States, IODE NODCs and ADUs collecting underway sea surface salinity data to participate in the activities of the Project.

Annex A to Decision IODE-XXVII/3.3.1.3

Terms of Reference of the Underway Sea Surface Salinity Data Archiving Project (GOSUD)

Objectives of the Project: The objectives of this project are to:

• Acquire, quality control, store and disseminate collected underway sea surface temperature and sea surface salinity data and metadata;
• Maintain the database of sea surface salinity and temperature with appropriate metadata (including safeguarding high resolution delayed data);
• Maintain and improve internationally agreed data management procedures and recommended practices, including metadata schemas, through close cooperation with relevant data centres (such as NCEI, SOCAT, OceanOps, SOOP);
• Maintain, improve and implement procedures for the quality assessment of real time (RT) and delayed mode (DM) data, based on the GTSPP experience;
• Develop or adapt already existing web interfaces to allow users to easily submit data and metadata, both in RT and DM;
• Provide user access to data and metadata using state-of-the-art technologies;
• Prepare proposals for the archival of additional underway data types;
• Maintain a group of active experts involved in GOSUD.

Annex B to Decision IODE-XXVII/3.3.1.3

Terms of Reference of the IODE Steering Group for the Underway Sea Surface Salinity Data Archiving Project (GOSUD)

Objectives: The SG-GOSUD will have the following Terms of Reference:

1. Propose the vision, strategy, work plan and timetable for the GOSUD Project;
2. Advise on technical aspects including the GOSUD data services;
3. Establish a stakeholder forum to ensure active participation of GOSUD data end users;
4. Report to the IOC and to other partners on the progress of the GOSUD Project;
5. Identify funding sources to further develop GOSUD.

Membership: The Steering Group will be composed, inter alia, of:

1. Project (Co-)Chair(s)
2. Representatives from OceanOPS,
3. Representatives of GOSUD data contributors;
4. Representatives of GDACs hosting and serving GOSUD data;
5. Invited Experts;
6. Representatives of major stakeholder (user) groups (including EMODNet Physics);
7. Representative of the IODE Secretariat;

Decision IODE-XXVII/9.1

ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INTER-SESSIONAL WORKING GROUP
ON THE REVIEW OF IODE STRUCTURE AND WORKING METHODS

The IODE Committee,

Recalling IODE XXV Decision 3.2.4 on the establishment of an Inter-sessional Working Group on the Review of NODC Health Status within the IODE Network

Further recalling IODE XXV Decision 5.1 on IODE Management Structure

Noting the progress of the UN Ocean Decade for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 and the emerging demands in the field of ocean data and information as well as IODE contributions through, inter alia, the outcomes of the inter-sessional working group to propose a strategy on ocean data and information stewardship for the Ocean Decade (IWG-SODIS), the hosting of the Decade Coordination Office for data sharing by the IOC Project Office for IODE in Oostende, Belgium.

Further noting IODE contributions to UN programmes, initiatives and conventions,

Taking into account that accurate, high quality, reliable and standardized ocean data and information is the foundation of scientific knowledge and informed decision-making,

Further taking into account, and building upon, IODE XXVII Decisions in particular under agenda items 3.3.3 Structural elements of the IODE programme and  6. Future of IODE,

Considering the IODE programme is called to continue responding effectively and efficiently through appropriate structure and working methods,

Further considering the need to review the current IODE structure and working methods to ensure it remains fit-for-purpose,

Decides to establish an inter-sessional working group on the review of IODE structure and working methods, with the Terms of Reference as attached in Annex A to this Decision.

Annex A to Decision IODE-XXVII/9.1

Terms of Reference of the Inter-sessional working group on the review of IODE structure and working methods

Objectives

This working group will:

(i)         Review IODE structure and working methods and evaluate for efficacy and efficiency,

(ii)        Develop, if necessary, a proposal of required measures to adjust programme structure and working methods;

(iii)       Submit its final report including a draft proposal to IODE-XXVIII.

Membership

The initial membership will include Mr Ariel Troisi, Mr Sergey Belov, Mr Taco de Bruin, Mr Francisco Arias, Ms Lotta Fyrberg, Ms Paula Sierra, Mr Kimmo Tikka, Mr Lennert Tyberghein, Mr Michael Linthon, Mr Jonathan Pye, Ms Sun Miao, Ms Fangfang Wan, Mr Marc Taconet, Mr Jan-Bart Calewaert, Mr Joon-Soo Lee, Mr Sheldon Carter, Mr Patrick Gorringe, Mr Mortaza Tavakoli and Mr Hernan Garcia.

The group will elect its Chair from the membership.

The IODE Project Office will provide secretariat support.

The working group will conduct its business electronically.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation IODE-XXVII.6.2

The IOC Strategic Plan for Ocean Data and Information Management (2023-2029)

The IODE Committee,

Recalling

• IOC-XXIX/6.2.2 which adopted the IOC Strategic Plan for Oceanographic Data and Information Management (2017–2021) and also agreed that the Plan should be regularly reviewed and revised by the IODE Committee, and
• Resolution XXII-6 which adopted the IOC Oceanographic Data Exchange Policy,

Recognizing that

• the IOC Data Policy and Terms of Use is compatible with other international relevant data-exchange policies that promote free and open access to data, such as WMO Unified Data Policy,
• IODE has developed a global network of National Oceanographic Data Centres, Associate Data Units, information centres and related networks, representing a considerable pool of expertise in data and information management and sharing,
• many IOC Member States have developed distributed networks of data management facilities involving IODE, as well as other centres, to deal with a wide variety of ocean observations,

Considering that the vision of the IOC Strategic Plan for Data and Information Management (2023–2029) is to achieve a comprehensive and integrated ocean data and information system, serving the broad and diverse needs of IOC Member States, for management, policy-making and scientific use.

Considering further that the objectives of the IOC Strategic Plan for Ocean Data and Information Management for 2023-2029 are to deliver:

• interoperable, quality-controlled data on a diverse range of variables: (i) generated according to scientifically and operationally sound methods; and (ii) persistently archived in well-documented, globally applicable standards and formats;
• timely dissemination of data on a diverse range of variables (generated from observations and model outputs) both in real-time and delayed modes depending on the needs of user groups and their technical capabilities (“on demand” as well as automatically scheduled); and
• easy discovery and access to data and information about a diverse range of variables and derived products (including forecasts, alerts and warnings) in a way that is user friendly for a wide variety of users.

Recommends the endorsement of the IOC Strategic Plan for Ocean Data and Information Management 2023-2029 as given in IOC Manuals and Guides No. 92.

Recommends that the Plan should be:

• published and distributed widely and used as a basic data strategy throughout the programmes and projects of the IOC, and
• regularly reviewed and revised by the IODE Committee, in close consultation with all IOC programmes.

Recommendation IODE-XXVII.6.4

IOC Data Policy and Terms of Use (2023)

The IODE Committee,

Recalling that the IOC Oceanographic Data Exchange Policy was published in 2003 (IOC Resolution XXII-6, 2003) and since then has only had one minor change: Clause 5 revised in 2019 by Decision IOC-XXX/7.2.1(II) of the Assembly at its 30^th session, Paris, 26 June–4 July 2019.

Recognizing that:

(i)       the timely and unrestricted international exchange of oceanographic data is essential for the efficient acquisition, integration and use of ocean observations gathered by the countries of the world for a wide variety of purposes including the prediction of weather and climate, the operational forecasting of the marine environment, the preservation of life, the mitigation of human-induced changes in the marine and coastal environment, as well as for the advancement of scientific understanding that makes this possible,

(ii)      the global digital data, information, and knowledge ecosystem has radically changed since 2003,

(iii)     rapidly advancing technologies have altered the Data Stewardship paradigm,

(iv)     that there is a need to improve interoperability and align the IOC data policy with those at national, regional and international levels,

(v)     more and more Public-Private Partnerships are being established. To allow the best use of the data in this context as well as in the context of using data in journals from private publishers, the IOC data policy should provide clear guidance for commercial use of data.

Noting that partner and sister organizations are changing their data policies, which can serve as a model for updating the IOC data policy,

Noting further that principles of data sharing and licensing are becoming globally recognized and adopted, e.g. FAIR Principles and Creative Commons licences,

Recommends to close the IOC Intersessional Working Group on the Revision of the IOC Oceanographic Data Exchange Policy (2003, 2019) (IWG-DATAPOLICY),

Recommends the adoption of the IOC Data Policy and Terms of Use (2023) as detailed in Annex I to this Recommendation,

Decides to develop Guidelines for the development of detailed data and metadata sharing guidelines by all IOC programmes and projects.

ANNEX I

 IOC Data Policy and Terms of Use (2023)

Section 1. Preamble

The timely, open and unrestricted international sharing, in both real-time and delayed mode of ocean metadata, data and products is essential for a wide variety of purposes and benefits including scientific research, innovation and decision making, the prediction of weather and climate, the operational forecasting of the marine environment, the preservation of life, economic welfare, safety and security of society, the mitigation of human-induced changes in the marine and coastal environment, as well as for the advancement of scientific understanding that makes this possible. Metadata, data and products should be accessible, interoperable and openly shared with minimum delay and minimum restrictions.

Section 2. Purpose

The purpose of this data policy is to outline the requirements with respect to sharing, access, preservation, and attribution to facilitate the broad use and reuse of metadata, data and products.

Section 3. FAIR & CARE principles

To support knowledge discovery and innovation both by humans and machines and to acknowledge indigenous data governance, data should meet the FAIR Guiding Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable)[1] and In the case of indigenous data and information, data should meet the CARE principles (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics)[2] to the greatest extent practicable.

Section 4. Conditions of use

Data should be licensed (respecting Section 8) under a minimally restrictive and voluntary common-use licence[3] that grants permission, ensures proper attribution (for example, citable using a persistent identifier) and allows others to copy, distribute and make use of the data.

Section 5. Data Repositories and the IOC ocean data and information system (ODIS)

Data should be quality controlled (using community adopted and documented best practices or standards), accompanied by complete metadata and stored in an openly discoverable and accessible long-term data repository and made available through standards-based data services. Member States shall encourage convergence and interoperability and, where possible, use IODE data centres (National Oceanographic Data Centres or Associate Data Units) or other IOC programme related data centres that share metadata and data using the IOC Ocean Data and Information System (ODIS). ODIS is an interoperability layer and supporting technology, to allow existing and emerging ocean data and information systems to interoperate with one another.                                                               

Section 6: Secure long-term data archives

To support long-term and secure archival, data and associated metadata should be submitted, to the best practicable degree, to IODE’s World Ocean Database (WOD), the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS), other IOC related global data archives, and data centres linked to the World Data System (WDS), their successors or other global data archives.

Section 7. Access restrictions

Data and associated metadata should be made available with minimal restrictions on use unless there are valid reasons to restrict access. Legitimate reasons to restrict access to, and reuse of, data include, inter alia, privacy and confidentiality, protection of species, populations or habitats of concern, and national security.

Section 8. Data sharing policies of Member States

This Policy acknowledges the right of Member States and data owners to determine the terms of metadata, data and products sharing in a manner consistent with national jurisdictions, international conventions, and treaties, where applicable.

Section 9. Data and metadata sharing guidelines

IOC programmes, projects as well as other communities of practice should develop and/or apply, where applicable, detailed metadata, data and products sharing guidelines that are consistent with this IOC Data Policy and Terms of Use.

Section 10. Definitions

‘Data’ is a set of values, symbols or signs (recorded on any type of medium) that represent one or more properties of an entity[4].

‘Metadata’ is 'data about data' describing the content, quality, condition, and other characteristics of data that allows their inventory, discovery, evaluation or use.

‘Timely’ in this context means the distribution of data and/or products, sufficiently rapidly to be of value for a given application.

‘Openly’ means data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone - subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and share alike.

‘Product’ means a value-added enhancement of data applied to a particular use.

[1] Wilkinson, M., Dumontier, M., Aalbersberg, I. et al. The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci Data 3, 160018 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18

[2] CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance. https://www.gida-global.org/care

[3] For example: the Creative Commons family of licences https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/

[4] Ocean Decade Implementation Plan

Recommendation IODE-XXVII/8.4

IODE Work Plan and Budget 2023-2024

The IODE Committee,

Having reviewed its programme implementation requirements for the period 2023-2024,

Being aware of the continuing financial crisis faced by UNESCO and its IOC,

Noting with concern the continued and substantial decline in UNESCO Regular Programme funds available to IODE which has brought IODE at a critical level nearly unable to (i) implement its work plan and maintain the global network of data and information centres built over the past 6 decades, and (ii) provide capacity development at the regional level through the regional Ocean Data and Information Networks (ODINs) which will seriously impact on the equitable participation of the concerned Member States in IODE as well as in data and information management activities contributing to the Ocean Decade.

Re-emphasizing the importance of high-quality oceanographic data and information, products and services for scientific, observation and ocean-based disaster warning and mitigation programmes of the Commission, for Member States, the private sector and other users,

Noting the growing collaboration with, and contribution to other IOC Programmes and activities, demonstrated by joint development of products and services as well as capacity development activities,

Recognizing IODE’s active and pro-active response to the call on IODE to contribute to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development through several decade actions and the hosting, by the IOC Project Office for IODE, of the Decade Coordination Office for Ocean Data Sharing,

Expressing great appreciation to the Government of Flanders (Kingdom of Belgium) for hosting and supporting the IOC Project Office for IODE and for its continuing and increasing financial support to IODE as well as to other donors and Member States who are providing financial and in-kind support for IODE,

Appreciating and calling on Member States to continue (i) the in-kind support for the IODE Programme through establishing and maintaining IODE National Oceanographic Data Centres, Associate Data Units (including OBIS nodes), Associate Information Units, provision of experts; (ii) the provision of valuable ocean data and information products and services, and (iii) the provision of financial and other in-kind contributions to IODE,

Requests the IODE Co-Chairs to bring to the attention of the 32^nd Session of the IOC Assembly, the IODE Programme and Budget for the period 2023-2024, as attached in the Annex to this Recommendation.

Annex to Recommendation IODE-XXVII/8.4

Details

Created on: Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:38

Last Updated on: Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:46