ELECTIONS OF NEW CO-CHAIRS AT IODE-XXV

As the current IODE Co-Chairs have completed the maximum of two terms it will be necessary for the IODE Committee to elect 2 new Co-Chairs.

In accordance with IOC Rules of Procedure (IOC/INF-1166) and more particularly Rule 25.3 which states: “Unless otherwise designated by the Assembly or the Executive Council or, in the case of joint bodies, otherwise agreed upon, the Chairperson of each subsidiary body shall be elected by the body concerned.”, elections will be held for the positions of the two IODE Co-Chairpersons during the upcoming IODE Committee session.

In order to call for candidates for the 2 Co-Chair positions te IOC Secretariat sent out IOC Circular Letter 2725 on 23 August 2018. This letter called for candidatures (deadline 15 November 2018). This call resulted in 3 (informal) candidatures. As the number of available positions (2) is lower than the number of candidatures this means that a formal election will be required during the IODE Session.

Accordingly, IOC Circular Letter 2750 was issued on 14 January 2019. The deadline for formal nominations was set to 8 February 2019 (18h00 CET). The Circular Letter accompanied by 3 forms: Form A (Nomination Form IODE Co-Chair); Form B (CV of the nominee); Form C (Designation of national representative authorised to vote during IODE-XXV).

CANDIDATES (OFFICIAL NOMINATIONS)

Dr Sergei Belov

(Russian Federation). Seconded by Greece, Argentina

Date of birth: April 17, 1982

Languages: Russian, English, Latvian

Current position: head of laboratory

Other positions: head of Partnership Centre for IODE Ocean Data Portal (ODP), JCOMM Data Management Programme Area coordinator, member of WMO Task Team on Evolution of WIS (TT-eWIS), member of WMO RA IV Task Team on WIS

Education: Ph.D., Institute of System Analysis, Russian Academy of Science, 2008, Obninsk State University of Nuclear Power Engineering, 1998 – 2003, Dipl. Engineer

Previous professional experience:

2001 – 2013 scientific officer
2013 – present head of laboratory

Project participation, trainings and workshops:

JCOMM/IODE ETDMP;
JCOMM PP-III;
SEASEARCH project;
EU SEADATANET Project (www.seadatanet.org);
EU SEADATANET 2 Project (www.seadatanet.org);
“Unified system of information on the World ocean condition” (ESIMO), Russian Federation. (www.esimo.ru )
The WIGOS Pilot Project for JCOMM;
WIS;
Ocean Data Interoperability Project (ODIP)
EU SeaDataCloud project;
EMODnet;
INTAROS;

Participation in International Committees:

2009 – present technical coordinator of IODE Ocean Data Portal
2018 – present Member - WMO Task Team on Evolution of WIS (TT-eWIS)
2013 – present head of Partnership Centre for IODE Ocean Data Portal (ODP)
2012-2017 Chair – JCOMM/IODE ETDMP
2017 – present Chair – JCOMM Data Management Programme Area

Personal perspective on the future of IODE:
Over 50 years the programme "International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange" (IODE) of the "Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission" (IOC) of UNESCO is contributing to the research, exploitation and development within the oceanographic domain by coordinating the network of NODCs and ADUs. It supports the exchange and sharing of data and relevant information, knowledge and services among the participating Member States and for other communities.
The IODE is well known as IOC programme, it has produced a number of internationally endorsed projects (IODE OTGA, OBPS, OBIS, ODP, etc.) and products/services (WOD, GOSUD, etc.). However, there is great potential that needs to be awakened. There are still a lot of challenges, including lack of visibility of IODE outside of IOC, funding issues, emerging need for broader interoperability with public and private sector, support of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), etc.
IODE can play a key role within data management, information management and capacity development in global domain, bringing together experts within and outside IODE, assisting project, programmes and initiatives to reach their goals. The development IOC Ocean Data Information System (ODIS) is within the high priority for the nearest future and will help to fill the gaps of understanding about the contents of ocean-related data, services and products. Considering of high importance of being interoperable with other major systems, there is also need for convergence with WMO Information System (WIS), GEO/GEOSS, ICSU WDS, EMODnet, AODN, and others. Emerging need is the assessment of the work of NODCs according the IODE Quality Management Framework, which is aimed to evaluate the health state of the overall IODE, sustaining real data sharing and exchange.
My experience within IODE activities is 15 years and I will be happy to coordinate the identification of the priorities of relevant activities and their implementation for the next inter-sessional period.

Declaration of commitment: I declare with all responsibility my readiness to coordinate the work of the IODE for the next intersessional period.

Mr Taco de Bruin

(The Netherlands). Seconded by Greece, Italy

Date of birth: 14-05-1959

Languages:English (active), French (passive), German (passive), Dutch (native)

Application for the function of IODE Co-Chair
Taco de Bruin (NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht University)

Current Position: Scientific Data Manager, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht University (UU) & Chair Netherlands National Oceanographic Data Committee (NL-NODC)

Education: 1988, MSc. Experimental Physics with a major in Meteorology, Utrecht University

Professional Scientific Experience:
1988-1995 Research scientist in atmospheric electricity (UU) and application of remote sensing

in oceanography (NIOZ)

1995-present Scientific Data Manager - NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
2003-present Chair Netherlands National Oceanographic Data Committee (NL-NODC)

Participation in International Committees:

2005-present IODE National Coordinator for Data Management
2005-2010 Co-Chair – International Polar Year (IPY) Data Policy and Management Subcommittee (IPY-SCDPM)

2004-2008        Chair - Joint SCAR/COMNAP Committee on Antarctic Data Management (JCADM)
2011-2014        Chair - SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management (SCADM)
2001-present    Member – Subsequent ICES Working Groups on Marine Data Management
                        (ICES-WGMDM, ICES-WGDIM, ICES-DIG)
2012-present    Member - Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) Data Management Sub-Committee
2004-2015        Member - Steering Committee of the Marine Metadata Interoperability (MMI) project

- Partner involved in Euronodim, SeaSearch, SeaDataNet, SeaDataCloud since 1999.

- Member – ESF Marine Board - EuroGOOS Panel on marine observations and data (EMODnet)

- Partner involved in EMODnet Chemistry, Biology, Bathymetry, HRSM and Data Ingestion since the
start of EMODnet

During my career I have also been, or still are, a member of the:

- Planning Group IODE/JCOMM Forum on Oceanographic Data Management and Exchange Standards
- IODE Ocean Best Data Practices Pilot Project
- IODE Study Group on the IOC Ocean Data and Information System (SG-ODIS)
- OceanSITES Data Management Team
- SCAR/SCOR Oceanography Expert Group
- World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Data Management Task Force

I have been on the peer review teams or advisory boards of the:
- Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
- Evaluation of the application for hosting the Swedish National Centre for Climate- and
Environmental Research Data (Chair)
- Swedish Environment Climate Data Sweden facility (ECDS)
- British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) for the NERC Quinquennial review of science
programmes at the Marine Centres – OCEANS 2025 proposal
- United Kingdom Marine and Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN)
- Norwegian Marine Data Centre project (NMDC)

Resulting from my work as a Polar data manager for the Netherlands Polar Program, I have represented The Netherlands as the Alternate Delegate from The Netherlands to the SCAR 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2016 Delegates meetings. I have been:

- Member – Steering Committee Polar Information Commons

- Co-Chair – CODATA Task Group on International Polar Year Data Policy and Management

Research Interests: (Inter)national organization of data and information management in general, with particular emphasis on marine and polar data management.

The IODE future: a personal perspective

This is an exciting and important moment in the long and distinguished history of IODE, on the eve of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).

Possibly even a turning point.

Exciting, because technical developments in recent years finally allow us to fully achieve the goals of IODE as set out since 1961 to ‘facilitate and promote the discovery, exchange of, and access to, marine data and information including metadata, products and information in real-time, near real time and delayed mode, through the use of international standards, and in compliance with the IOC Oceanographic Data Exchange Policy for the ocean research and observation community and other stakeholders’.

Important, and also exciting, because IODE is the only organization in a position to ensure full inclusion and participation of the entire global oceanographic data community. It is important that the full resources of all IOC/IODE Member States are bundled and combined to address the serious challenges the world faces concerning matters such as climate change mitigation, food security and sustainable use of the oceans. IODE should and will play a crucial role in ensuring that all the data from oceanographic research and monitoring, needed to address these and other issues, are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) for all of humanity.

A turning point, because the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development allows IODE to make its already strong brand even stronger, having a key role in the Decade to achieve its objectives.

This key role in the Decade is not the only strength of IODE on which we can build to establish a bright future for IODE.
As a project of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, IODE is open to as well as representing the entire global oceanographic data management community. This is both a unique strength as well as a task, a mission, to actively include and support all Member States from all continents.
The vibrant and pro-active UNESCO/IOC Project Office for IODE, generously supported by the Government of Flanders/ Kingdom of Belgium, is an invaluable asset of utmost importance for the entire community.
Over the course of many years, the Ocean Teacher Global Academy (OTGA) has developed from a small pilot project into a very professional, well-established and highly valued global academy. The combination of the central training facility at the Project Office in Ostend with a series of regional training centers allows current and future generations of data providers, managers and users to be trained in all aspects of modern oceanographic data management, thus keeping up high, professional standards and expertise across the globe.
While many of the technical advancements in oceanographic data management take place within funded and relatively short-term projects outside of IODE, IODE, as a permanent organization under IOC, is uniquely positioned to safeguard the progress made in these projects and to ensure the availability and accessibility of the outcomes to the rest of the globe, including Members States not active in those projects.
Examples of this approach are the hosting of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) project office after the end of the original OBIS project as well as the (proposed) hosting of the Ocean Best Practices initiative after the end of the involvement of the AtlantOS programme.

The Oceanographic Data and Information System (ODIS) project is a key element of the IODE activities, as are the many other IODE programs and projects, often carried out by Member State NODCs on behalf of IODE.

The main challenges for IODE are to make sure that all Member States are actively included in the work of IODE, to facilitate their participation and to find adequate resources to carry out the many tasks that IODE has.

IODE should continue to liaise and link with all relevant data and information initiatives, such as WMO and JCOMM committees, funded oceanographic data management projects across the world and Research Data Alliance (RDA) Working Groups.

It would be my great honour to serve IODE and its great community of professionals in the role of co-chair.

If elected, I would address the challenges mentioned above, that is the active participation of all Member States and the identification of additional resources, while making sure that the currently available resources are used in the most efficient and effective way.

Declaration of commitment: I declare with all responsibility my readiness to coordinate the work of the IODE for the next intersessional period.

Details: Created on: Friday, 08 February 2019 10:36; Last Updated on: Tuesday, 12 February 2019 12:34