Saint John, New Brunswick
Saint John Regional Library
Tuesday, April 4, 2000, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 5, 2000, 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
(This report is also available as a Word document)
Participants:
Paul Boudreau (DFO), Paul Schroeder (UMaine), Chris Brehme (Island Institute),
Andy Boyce (Island Institute), Alison Evans (Dalhousie University/Bay of Fundy
Marine Research Centre), Wil Hopkins (Coobscot Bay Marine Resource Centre, Sean
Brillant, (ACAP Saint John)
1.1. All participants were welcomed by the local organiser, Sean Brillant, ACAP Saint John.
1.2. Boudreau announced that Patrice Farrey and Warren Gash have left the initiative and he expressed great thanks to them both for their support and efforts over the past 18 months.
1.3. The agenda was accepted as a good overview - recognising that the discussions will follow many paths.
2. Web Page discussion
2.1. With the departure of Gash for the role of webmaster, there was a discussion on how best to implement a number of changes to the web page. The Gulf of Maine Council, under the Information Management Committee has contracted out the web master duties to a private company. At present they have sole access to the server on which the GOMINFOEX web site resides.
2.2. Schroeder requested access to the web page to facilitate the fast, regular, updates to the page. It was agreed that Schroeder would undertake to update the web page and forward the files to Boudreau/The Contractor for posting on the World.com server. Changes to be implemented include:2.2.1. Highlight the activities underway by GOMINFOEX participants such as the participants map, e-Atlas, GOMEA Users Surveys, etc.;
2.2.2. Possible add a graphic from the Participants Map;, and,
2.2.3. The documents presently listed will be made less apparent.2.3. Future changes for consideration are:
2.3.1. Implement a GOMINFOEX search engine that could search relevant sites;
2.3.2. Implement a user's-maintained list of actions to facilitate participants posting their work and promoting their work within the GOMINFOEX initiative; and,
2.3.3. Island Institute to look into hosting the WWW.GOMINFOEX.ORG domain to allow for easier group maintenance and possibly better clarity of the domain separate from any particular partner. That is to remove the "gulfofmaine" identity presently displayed at the bottom of the page.
3. GOMINFOEX Paper
3.1. The Action Committee was briefed on the development of a paper for publication in an international journal concerning the history, philosophy, success, failures and future of GOMINFOEX. Schroeder is the lead author and has used an innovative electronic discussion for compiling input from a number of GOMINFOEX participants (http://www.spatial.maine.edu/~schroedr/epb99/observatory02wfmt.html).
4. Development of Funding Proposal
4.1. Boudreau and Schroeder briefed the participants on the call for proposals from the FDGC/Geoconnections Framework fund. The fund is to support the development of joint international efforts to compile electronic frameworks. Resource management in the Gulf of Maine is included in the call for proposals as an example. Schroeder agreed to try and co-ordinate the development of a GOMINFOEX proposal with input, support and contributions from the Marine Resource Centres, Norval Collins, and other GOMINFOEX participants. Proposed activities include hiring staff to survey the needs for framework data by Gulf of Maine Communities, facilitating the input of communities into the Out of the Fog II workshop and attempting to directly compile some demonstration framework themes to test regional situation.
5. Out of the Fog II Workshop Planning
5.1. General: To allow expansion of the GOMINFOEX partners, two major comments were made:
5.1.1. Community groups don't really care about data and information. All of their efforts are driven by on-the-ground problems. For this reason, efforts are required to make the link between general information exchange and the benefits that this might bring to addressing real problems. Insufficient effort has gone into making this linkage thus far.
5.1.2. It is necessary for the Action Committee to articulate its vision and principles so that others can understand and possible buy-in. This will be critical for getting proper representation at the Workshop. Attempts will be made to address this in the Strawman Document.5.2. In order to make address some of the negative aspects of the first workshop, it was agreed that efforts should be made to make OOTF II more open and inclusive of all opinions. It was proposed that the Fundy Forum Timed Discussion as a primer for the Workshop. A properly designed Timed Discussion could be used to start a dialogue, solicit input and possibly case studies, for use in preparing the final Workshop program. Boudreau agreed to contact the Fundy Forum steering group to further develop this possibility. If accepted, the Action Committee would have to commit to provide some operation support in the form of questions and submissions to the discussion.
5.3. Announcements/advertising
5.3.1. One announcement is required for the Timed Discussion that would have to be out by mid-May. A second announcement is required for the Workshop proper and should be out after the input from the Discussion and before summer vacations begin.
5.4. Local organisor's role
5.4.1. Brillant agreed to continue contacts with hotels in Saint John to identify venue. Both the Hilton and the Delta are being discussed. Preliminary estimates of costs suggest that the seed funding from the Gulf of Maine Council will cover the basics.
5.5. Facilitator's role
5.5.1. No decision was made on the role of the facilitator until after the Timed Discussion. Evans will maintain close contact with the Action Committee to ensure a good understanding of the objectives of the Workshop
5.6. Report Generation
5.6.1. No discussion was held on this item.
5.7. Associated Meetings (MRCs?)
5.7.1. No direct discussion was held on this item. Representatives of both MRCs expressed continued support and interest in developing co-ordinated efforts.
5.8. Strawman Document
5.8.1. Boudreau will continue to consider the content and layout. A first draft will be available for the July Action Committee meeting. Schroeder et al. paper (http://www.spatial.maine.edu/~schroedr/epb99/observatory02wfmt.html) will provide an excellent step in documenting the history and future approaches to a Gulf of Maine information exchange.
5.9. Program
5.9.1. A draft program will not be prepared until after the Timed Discussion. A rough outline of a Program was discussed:
5.9.1.1. Thursday, November 2nd
5.9.1.1.1. a.m. - travel and registration
5.9.1.1.2. p.m. - Introduction, Background and principle of GOMINFOEX; Introduction to Case Studies in Plenary
5.9.1.1.3. evening - open, public "Contributors Exhibit" to include e-Atlas, Participants map, Fishers Website, Marine Invertebrate Diversity Initiative (MIDI), etc.5.9.1.2. Friday, November 3rd
5.9.1.2.1. a.m. - Breakout groups on Case study/Plenary
5.9.1.2.2. p.m. - Breakout groups on Regional application(s)
5.9.1.2.3. evening - Banquet5.9.1.3. Saturday, November 4th
5.9.1.3.1. a.m. - Vision revisited/Action Plan/Future Steps
5.9.1.3.2. p.m. - Action Committee meeting on next actions5.10. Other Issues
6. Review of Other Actions Items
6.1. GOMMEA survey update - It was noted that the Survey still requires some support in the compilation and analysis of the results. It was proposed that the Island Institute may be able to provide some help. Other options discussed for supporting this work include posting the survey on the web using an easy-to-use form that would facilitate input. The Users Survey that was developed by NOAA has not yet been implemented and should be considered for future action.
6.2. Other Actions
6.2.1. Action Item # 3- Establish/promote list servers, discussion groups, etc. -This item was covered in the general discussions throughout the meeting. Particular comments were made on the success of the Participants map, the need to do face-to-face outreach and ways of using the preparation and holding of the OOTF II Workshop. There remains a question about how to define and compile data on indicators to monitor GOMINFOEX progress, or lack of same.
6.2.2. Action Item # 7 & 11 -- Strategic Plan - The key requirement under a strategic plan that was discussed was the need to clearly articulate the vision and principles of GOMINFOEX so that new participants can understand the results of past discussions and agreements. An attempt will be made to address this in the "Strawman Document" promised for the OOTF II workshop.
6.2.3. Action Item #9 - Institutional leader - nothing to report
6.2.4. Action Item # 10- Silly-word update - The results of the experiment continue to be less than hoped. Reasons for this are varied, including low efficiency in Internet Search Engines, requirements for actions by webmasters, need for one-on-one communications. Although not yet terminated, this was given a low priority and will potentially be replaced by the implementation of a dedicated GOMINFOEX search function.
6.2.5. New Proposals for Actions6.2.5.1. Participants map to be added to the Action List;
6.2.6. Review and revise Action Plan - add, delete or modify
6.2.6.1. No additional revisions required
7. Other Business
7.1.1. Where do we go from here? - covered under OOTF II planning
7.1.2. Missing partners - covered under OOTF II planning
7.1.3. Related meeting announcements - none
7.1.4. Next meeting dates7.1.4.1. Proposed Action Committee Meeting for July 17th at the Island Institute in Rockland, Maine.
7.1.5. Other