EMODNET - EMODnet Steering Committee and Technical Working Group meetings

The EMODnet partnership held its 15th EMODnet Steering Committee and 10th Technical Working Group meetings between 8th-10th September 2021. The hybrid meetings brought together more than 40 experts with local participants convening in Ostend - where the EMODnet Secretariat offices are based - together with a large online participation from members across Europe. Also joining was Iain Shepherd, senior advisor to the EC DG MARE, who was recognised for his long-standing commitment and vision for EMODnet since its inception over a decade ago.

date: 30/09/2021

The 15^th Steering Committee (SC) included a joint session with the EMODnet SC, Technical Working Group (TWG) and EC Marine Knowledge Expert Group (MKEG) members where highlights from EMODnet thematics and data ingestion Coordinators were presented and discussed in the context of the ongoing centralisation of services. Reflections were shared from the recent EMODnet Open Conference and Jamboree, 14-16 June 2021 and the EC Ocean Observation – sharing responsibility event on 18 June 2021, from which community recommendations will be published in October 2021. Updates were also given on EMODnet’s partnerships at EU level, including with Copernicus Marine Service, Regional Sea Conventions, Research Infrastructures and wider EU collaborations, and contribution to global dialogues and regional collaborations worldwide, including the EU-China EMOD-PACE partnership.

The EMODnet TWG assessed the recent repatriation towards the Europa domain and revamped website and dived deeper into technical challenges and solutions for EMODnet’s ongoing centralisation efforts, including progress towards a common map viewer and solutions for enhanced monitoring performance of EMODnet’s services.

The meeting reports and presentations from both meetings will be made available on the EC Maritime Forum in October 2021.