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IODE Training

IODE Technical Training History

 There are no formal education programmes related to oceanographic data management. In many cases data centre staff consists of ocean researchers or information science professionals who moved into the area of data management and often learned from the previous generation of data managers.

iode training history

Prior to 1991 IODE therefore regularly organized technical training courses for new data centres. These were organized on an ad hoc basis in various countries. Lecturers would bring their slides and teach theoir "own" course but training materials were not managed in any way.  

In 1991 IODE and ICES (John Withrow, Harry Dooley, Murray Brown) taking into account the then "new" technology of the Personal Computer brought together a few core software tools and documents and put these on a floppy disc. This was called OceanPc (find out more HERE). 

In 1997 IODE moved into the world of html and the Internet: not only did IODE launch its first web site (together with that of IOC) but, during an IODE training course in Mombasa, Kenya, Murray Brown and Peter Pissierssens decided to develop html pages and build an offline "web site" containing training materials, software and other documents. This was called the IODE ResourceKit (you can find a publication on the ResourceKit HERE). It was distributed on Compact Disc.

In 2001, with web based information systems widely used and increasingly accessible around the world, IODE decided to go full-web: The OceanTeacher web site was launched and offered a wikipedia like repository of knowledge on data and information management (the OceanTeacher Library) as well as course outlines used during classroom courses that frequently pointed to content in the Library. This "binary" model has remained a key feature of OceanTeacher ever since.

 2005 was a milestone year for IODE training: the Government of Flanders (Kingdom of Belgium) offered to hos the "IOC Project Office for IODE" in Oostende, Belgium. This centre was intended to be IODE's meeting and training centre. Thanks to the provision of staff and funding the Project Office, since its opening in April 2005, was able to organize between 6-8 courses every year, each with 15-20 students. During the first 10 years of its existence the Office has welcomed nearly 1300 students from 120 countries. 

In 2009 the OceanTeacher Academy project started with support from the Government of Flanders. The project enabled the redesign of the OceanTeacher platform and the more systematic and professional development of curricula based on regular needs surveys (taken from Member States). Theoretical lectures were now also video recorded and made available online (http://vimeo.com/iode ). Courses continued to be organised in Oostende. In addition to IODE courses also other IOC programmes started making use of the OceanTeacher platform and Oostende facilities. More information can be found HERE.
The OceanTeacher Academy project continued until early 2014.

In 2013 a review of the OceanTeacher Academy resulted in a number of recommendations:

 

  • Need to train more students from each country
  • Reduce travel of students and lecturers
  • Provide training in local language
  • Focus more on local issues
  • Make platform available to other IOC programmes

 It was concluded that the implementation of these recommendations would be possible by decentralizing the training facilities by establishing a network of Regional Training Centres. To make this possible a Project proposal was submitted to the Government of Flanders entitled "The OceanTeacher Global Academy"

In 2014 the OceanTeacher Global Academy started and more information can be found here.

 

Integrated Capacity Development in a regional context

One of the major objectives of the IODE Programme is to assist Member States to acquire the necessary capacity to manage marine data and information and become partners in the IODE network. It is only when IOC member states have acquired this expertise at the national level that they can become an active partner in IODE and thus share their data and information with the other members of the "IODE family". The training does not only teach the principles of data and information but also promotes the use of "standards" amongst all IODE centres and thus achieve interoperability between these centres.

Since the late 1990s IODE designed a new way to develop capacity in (developing) member states. This new "strategy" is based upon these four elements:

  1. providing equipment
  2. providing training
  3. providing seed funding for operational activities of newly created data centres and marine libraries
  4. work in a regional context, addressing common (regional) as well as individual (national) goals

This strategy has been implemented as "Ocean Data and Information Networks" or ODINs. The first region where the new strategy was tested was Africa (see more on ODINAFRICA). Later followed similar networks in the Caribbean/South America (ODINCARSA), Indian Ocean (ODINCINDIO), European countries in economic transition (ODINECET) , Western Pacific -WESTPAC region (ODINWESTPAC) and Black Sea region (ODINBlackSea). It is important to note that ODINs do not focus just on the development of ocean data and information management capacity. They are end-to-end capacity development platforms which seek close collaboration with IOC ocean observation programmes (GOOS), IOC ocean science (Harmful Algal Bloom programme), IOC coastal management (ICAM), as well as with the WMO/IOC JCOMM and regional programmes such as NEPAD, CPPS and of course the GOOS regional alliances. ODINs, being medium to large-scale projects that take 5-10 to develop and come to fruition are dependent on extra-budgetary support from IOC Member States as well as donors. ODINAFRICA has received considerable financial support from the Government of Flanders (Belgium).

 

 


 
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