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

WGDIM was brought into being in 2007 as an amalgamation of the Working Group on Marine Data Management (WGMDM) and the Study Group on Data and Informa-tion Management (SGDIM). It has been evolving over the last 3 years and refining its role within ICES. The meeting this year saw a significant shift away from detailed technical discussions towards more strategic themes covering the majority of ICES’ data holdings and systems.User interaction with ICES Data Centre and WGDIM has been improved as a result of the Theme Session at ASC and the much improved ICES web based data services. All of this is solidly underpinned by the Data Policy.With increased use of data across multiple disciplines the provision of clear guidance on all aspects of data, from its initial capture through to long-term curation and use, are essential, the group currently maintains a number of guidelines under the ICES banner and will continue to develop, recommend development of or implementation of relevant standards.