Marine data: UNESCO rewards the quality of the National OGS Centre

The OGS National Oceanographic Data Centre (NODC) is celebrating its twentieth anniversary with an important achievement: UNESCO certification confirming the quality of the data managed by the Centre. The NODC is the first and only marine data centre in Italy to receive this seal of quality. It is awarded by UNESCO as part of the IODE (International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange) programme of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The programme aims to improve marine research, facilitate the exchange of data and information between Member States and meet the needs of those who use them for scientific and/or information purposes.

It has taken almost two years to achieve accreditation. Obtaining this recognition from UNESCO means that the centre not only manages findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) data - complying the principles of Open Science - but is also able to ensure their security and long-term preservation. On the occasion of the second meeting of the Italian Community of Data Managers (born in Rome on 7 November 2023), which took place yesterday in Bologna, NODC spoke for the first time about UNESCO certification.

Currently, the IODE network consists of 101 data centres in 68 member states, including Africa, Latin America and the Western Pacific region. Of these, only 11 have received quality certification. In addition, IODE-accredited data centres are automatically part of the World Data System, an organisation mandated by the International Council for Science to develop and share systems for the preservation and accessibility of data on a global scale.