20 / 03 / 2019
Over the past two decades, the data centre of VLIZ has delivered a great deal of innovative and service-oriented work. Photo: VLIZ
To claim an IODE accreditation, a data center must meet a number of conditions as set out in the IODE Quality Management Framework (IODE-QMF). This framework also offers data centers an overall strategy, advice and guidance to design and implement Quality Management Systems (QMS).
Two of the systems that the VMDC operationalized and that played a crucial role in obtaining the IODE accreditation are the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) and the Marine Data Archive (MDA). IMIS discloses scientific information about available datasets, establishes the link to publications and authors, and thus provides a good view on the expertise of researchers and institutes. The Marine Data Archive is a secure, online system where researchers can archive their data files in a well-documented way. More and more scientists are using the MDA and IMIS to publish their open data formally with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which leads to traceability of the cited data and increased recognition for the work done.
Besides the MDA and IMIS, the data center also develops and maintains many other data systems that are used in dozens of international projects and networks. Examples are taxonomic registers such as the World Register of Marine Species (Aphia), the EurOBIS data system that centralizes biogeographic data on marine species, and the IOC Sealevel monitoring facility that groups the operational status of the sea level monitoring stations and their raw data.
With these data systems and services, the data center has been supporting the principles of FAIR and open data for years and was previously accredited as a World Data Center by the International Science Council ICSU.