Unlocking the Marine Data Treasure Chest

Abstract

The use of geospatial data in the marine environment is still a small “cottage” industry when compared to that on land, especially in the UK. This is partly due to a crucial lack of knowledge about what public or commercial sourced data exists, how to get hold of it, how much is digital and what it would cost. The current situation does not meet either Government expectations or that of data providers and users. External drivers such as the UK Government sponsored Marine Stewardship Report (“Safeguarding our Seas”), the EU Directives for ICZ Management and the Water Framework Directive are exerting increasing pressure to resolve the situation. Coupled with that is the growing need amongst data users for wider dissemination, digital outputs, data exchange agreements, licensing of data/information, interoperability and e-business. This presents an interesting challenge for organisations like the UKHO. This presentation explores how the UKHO and other data providers are unlocking the data “treasure chest” and the move towards the development of a marine geospatial data information framework (MSDI).