Report of the Working Group on Data and Information Management (WGDIM)

The ICES Working Group on Data and Information Management met for the first time in June 2007. WGDIM was established to provide ICES with advice on all aspects of data management including technical, data policy, data strategy and user-oriented guidance. The group reports directly to the Consultative Committee, and consists of data managers and data users. The group will try to attract more data users in the near future as currently not all aspects of ICES’ work are properly represented in WGDIM.During its first meeting, WGDIM discussed a number of different items important for the future of ICES databases. Enhanced integration of diverse fishery, oceanographic, and other marine environmental data, and tools to enable fishery and environmental assessments are needed to respond to the requirements for ecosystem-based management initiatives. The growing number of databases and data sources requires new approaches to be developed for efficient access to data – and especially to data in distributed databases. Management of data should also meet enhanced requirements and take advantage of ever-evolving technologies, for example, GIS-based systems and the internet.