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Rockland,
Maine
Island Institute
Monday, July 17th, 2000, 8:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Attendees:
Seth Barker
Paul Boudreau
Andy Boyce
Chris Brehme
Courtney Coles
Ron Huber
Wil Hopkins
Aviva Rahmani
Paul Schroeder
Attachments:
GeoData Alliance Principles - 7/10/00 - for review
and comment to Wil Hopkins
Draft Out of the Fog II Workshop Agenda
1. Welcome, introductions, announcements and acceptance of agenda:
All
participants introduced themselves and a review of the GOMINFOEX vision,
objectives and operating principles was held. It was once again noted that
although there is a strong general vision accepted by all participants, there
would be benefits in formulating and documenting them as a tool for future
development. Points raised include: the importance of the meetings and personal
interactions; the continuing need for facilitation of access to information;
desire for a decentralised equitable partnership; importance of individual
participating in Action Committee meetings; the intangibility of GOMINFOEX may
be detracting from its perception as useful and the feasibility of tracking the
various forms of participation.
Later presentation and discussion on the national GeoData Alliance principles being developed by the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) suggests that GOMINFOEX may be able to use their principles as start and then add additional ones as appropriate for the Gulf of Maine Regional effort. All GOMINFOEX participants are encouraged to review and comment on the GeoData Alliance principles attached in Attachment 1.
2. Out of the Fog II Workshop
Planning:
2.1. Report and Review
of Timed Discussion - The timed discussion successful in getting some very
useful additional input on the issues that GOMINFOEX could usefully addressed.
It was not able to develop and refine specific issues for use in developing the
OOTF II workshop agenda. It was recognised that the Fundy Forum does not have
adequate representation from New Hampshire and Massachusetts and that other
methods may be required in future efforts to get input from residents in those
areas. The Out of the Fog and Gulftalk were two alternative, but overlapping
listservers.
2.2.
Announcements/advertising/news coverage - An open public session will be held on
Thursday evening between 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. It was discussed that this may be a
good venue for advertising to the public and large and possibly gaining some
interested from the various news media. A number of press releases will be
prepared to address a number of different interests including: information
technology, fishers and others.
2.3. Local organiser's
role - The Atlantic Canadian Action Plan (ACAP) Saint John organisation has
agreed to be the local organiser. A contract is being finalised that outlines
the agreed tasks. Anyone wishing a copy of the workplan should contact Boudreau.
2.4. Facilitator's role - Based on her past work with Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy workshops, Alison Evan's was approached and has agreed to play a facilitation role before and during the workshop. A workplan will be developed to detail the specifics.
2.5. Report Generation - Due to
limited time and resources, the New England Aquarium has declined to prepare and
publish the workshop report. The Island Institute would look into the
possibility of carrying out this task. Other options are also being investigated
with ACAP Saint John and Evans.
2.6. Associated
Meetings (RC/MRC?) - If there is sufficient interest, it may be possible to hold
an open house at the Eastport and Cornwallis Resource Centers either before or
after the Workshop. No action will be taken at this time.
2.7. Strawman/Background Document - It was agreed that Boudreau would continue to work on a document that will be circulated to participants in advance of the workshop. It was suggested that it may be sufficient to prepare this using extracts from existing materials including: Fundy Forum Timed Discussion submissions; Out of the Fog I report; information exchange recommendations from other previous workshops and a short general history of GOMINFOEX. Boudreau will continue to develop this. If appropriate and desired, some of this document might be useful in the generation of a BOFEP fact sheet.
2.8. Draft Program Review and
Revision - Attachment 2 has the next revision of the Program that incorporates
comments made. It will be circulated to Action Committee members and the
facilitator for additional comments before a "final" agenda is
prepared in early September. The final agenda will be placed on the www.gominfoex.org
website.
Additional comments include: all participants will be encouraged to prepare and display a poster demonstrating their information provision capabilities and or their data needs;
3. Other Issues
3.1. Where do we go
from here? - The fall workshop will provide a thorough review of how/where/when
GOMINFOEX should develop.
3.2. Missing partners -
It was again pointed out that some Action Committee members were still absent
from the meeting. Although some had express their desire for continued
participation and their regrets for this meeting, it was suggested that efforts
be made to determine the reason for the lack of participation of those who have
not responded and possible consideration of actions to remedy the situation.
3.3. Related meeting
announcements - none
3.4. Next meeting dates
- a conference call will be held on September 13th, 2000 at 1:00 p.m.
Eastern/2:00 p.m. Atlantic to review the status of the Workshop planning and
consider additional plans and or actions.
#1. GeoData Alliance is open to any individual or institution subscribing to its Purpose and Principles in conducting GeoData Alliance activities.
#2. Members have the right to self-organise at any time, on any scale and around any activity consistent with the Purpose and Principles.
#3. shall be vested in, functions performed at, and resources used by the smallest or most local part that includes all relevant and affected parties.
#4. Deliberations and decisions of
the GeoData Alliance shall be made by bodies and methods that reasonably
represent all relevant and affected parties and are dominated by none.
#5. Deliberations and decisions of the
GeoData Alliance shall use knowledge and information derived from scientific
method, practical experience and intuition.
#6. Diversity in all forms is desirable
and shall be encouraged.
#7. Conflict shall be resolved
creatively, cooperatively and constructively.
#8. To the maximum degree possible,
results shall be achieved by persuasion rather than compulsion.
#9. Geographic information has inherent
value and the creators of the value should be equitably compensated.
#10. Standards essential to achieve the
Purpose in accord with the Principles shall be established and implemented.
#11. Each and every part shall protect
the privacy and confidentiality of personal information and sensitive geographic
information.
#12. Knowledge related to achieving the
Purpose of the GeoData Alliance in accord with the Principles shall be openly
and fully exchanged unless it violates confidentiality or materially diminishes
competitive advantage.
#13. Innovation is essential to achieve
the Purpose, shall be encouraged and should be fairly rewarded.
#14. Public inspection of data used for
governance is a fundamental right and access to these data should be provided.
#15. Each and every part of the GeoData
Alliance shall pursue greater coherence in the creation and flow of geographic
information.
OUT
OF THE FOG II Workshop
Plotting
a Course for Information Exchange
in
the Gulf of Maine
Saint John, New Brunswick.
November 2nd - 4th, 2000
GOMINFOEX
11:30-1:00
p.m. - Registration/check in/lunch not provided
1:00-1:30
p.m. Opening - Sean Brilliant, local organiser and Alison Evans,
Facilitator
1:15-1:30
p.m. Welcoming - Faith Scattolon (?), Regional Director of Oceans - Dept.
of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
1:30-2:00
p.m. GOMINFOEX history and background -
Paul Boudreau (?) ~ Out of the Fog I hosted at the New England Aquarium and the
Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. Building on past efforts such
as the Environmental Data and Information System (EDIMS), Research Environmental
Data and Information System (REDIMS), Atlantic Coastal Zone Information Steering
Committee and others. OOTF I
reviewed other existing systems, and exposed the participants to some of the
functionality provided by the web. A GOMINFOEX Action Committee of volunteers
was established to test some options and pursue a regional information exchange.
Present
GOMINFOEX Vision from the Terms of Reference
Action
Committee has meet quarterly since November 1998. Interested parties have
undertaken a number of tests and experiments to expose residents and develop our
vision. These include:
· Participants map to identify use groups;
·
Common co-ordinates to identify linkages;
·
E-Atlas to investigate distributed data access and provision;
·
Silly-Word to test simple, easy, cheap methods of facilitating data
searching;
·
Fishers web site as a tool to get fishers input on their needs;
·
Gulf of Maine Educators Association (GOMEA) User Needs Survey;
·
Fundy Forum Timed discussion on information exchange; and,
·
Organisation of this workshop.
Some
success has been achieved as is evident in a general increase in awareness of
our activities, "good turnout for OOTFII", finalist in the Stockholm
Challenge. There is much more to be done.
2:00
- 2:30 p.m. OOTF II Workshop Overview - Alison Evans, Facilitator - A
short presentation of the goals, overview objectives and desired meeting
outcome(s). The primary objective is to arrive at an agreed plan to develop a
Gulf of Maine Environmental Information Exchange. Breakout sessions may be used
to look at various potential functionality and models for the exchange. The status
quo will be included as one of the options. The other extreme is to put
together a plan for a large centrally funded and controlled exchange following
the model of the Great Lakes Information Network.
2:30
- 3:00 p.m. Participants Input to Agenda - Open session with Participants
questions and input on the agenda, objectives and issues to be included in the
workshop.
3:00
- 3:30 p.m. Refreshment break
3:30
- 5:00 p.m.- Who are We and What Do We Want/Need - A facilitated open
plenary discussion - Paul Schroeder to lead (?) - Through previous request for
submissions and the work of the Action Committee, a list of 3-4 issues will be
presented. These issues will form the core of the breakout groups.
Issues presently under consideration include: Salt Marsh restoration data
requirements; Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and historic data capture;
Water quality monitoring; data sharing policies and licensing; aquaculture
siting; community-based management requirements; curriculum development and
delivery; and framework development and support. Participants will be asked for
their preference of issue as they register and through an on-line form to be
developed and posted by Schroeder. Boudreau will prepare one or two lines to
describe the issue. Additional issues will be accepted for consideration. Each
issue will require some preparatory work so that the groups can adequately
address them and consider possibly actions for follow-up to the OOTFII. It may
be feasible to use these issues groups to establish teams that will carry on
work after the close of the workshop.
At
the end of the session, each group will meet briefly to introduce themselves and
consider possible approaches to their discussions on the following day..
7:00
- 9:00 p.m. Open Public Session on Environmental Information Exchange -
ACAP
Saint John, Sean Brilliant to host (?) - This session will have six 10-minute
presentations on information resources/tools/approaches. Suggested talks
include: e-Atlas; circuit rider; Resource Center, Maine Department of Marine
Resources; NOAA and St. Francis Xavier. The objective is to provide a brief
overview of the geographic range, client groups and capabilities. Following
these presentations there would be a time to look at the posters and interact
with the speaker.
8:30
- 12:00 3-4 "Issue" Based Breakout groups Groups will be asked
to focus their discussions on what are the existing capabilities, barriers and
possible actions that might be taken to remove barriers for each of the issues.
10:00-10:30
Refreshment break
10:30-12:00
Plenary to report Breakout group results
12:00-1:00
p.m. Lunch provided
1:00
- 3:00 p.m. Plenary to present focus on "boundaries".
Participants would be mixed up and meet in the afternoon based on
boundaries/interfaces. It may be geographic or it may be thematic (teachers and
researchers). They will pick one top issue from the morning session and attempt
to look consider ways of addressing it across the boundary.
3:00
-3:30 p.m. Refreshment break
3:30
- 5:00 p.m. Plenary report on Boundary Sessions
The
session will end with a request that all participants consider the functions
identified and think about who/what agency are, or might be, able to carry these
forward in the next 12-24 months.
6:00 - 9:00 p.m. Informal gathering in local Saint John's "watering hole".
8:30
- 10:30 Plenary to Refine Functional Requirements, Actions, and
Responsibilities.
Issues
dealt with on Friday will be reviewed and participants will be asked for input
on how/who can/might/will do each of the work towards achieving the functional
requirements. This session will be for people who want to get something done
and/or have something to offer. It is
critical that this session identify names and organisations that can act on the
request for actions. Areas of possible duplication should be identified and
minimised. Potential partnerships and co-operation should be highlighted. If
appropriate persons/agencies are not present, the Action Committee should be
prepared to accept the role of communicating the resulting requests for action
to the agencies. Functions that cannot be achieved by existing methods/organisations
will be identified and highlighted for discussion in the final plenary.
This
session will discussion organisational and technical options for addressing the
functions identified in the last session that are not readily address by
existing structures. Opportunities for action will be identified.
10:00
- 10:30 Refreshment Break
10:30-11:30
Plenary Presentations of National Initiatlves - Two 30-minute talks from
representatives from the US GeoData and the Canadian GeoConnections to attempt
to link the regional GOMINFOEX to the National efforts. The two presenters
should commit to attend the full OOTF II workshop so that they are fully aware
of the discussions and so will be able to highlight possible links.
11:30-12:00
Closing, thanks and safe journey home.