Improving the core IOTC data management processes

The current state of the art related to the internal IOTC core data management processes is described, depicting benefits and shortcomings as they emerged after more than one decade of adoption. Reasons for a radical change in the process implementation are listed, together with the improvements that the envisaged changes will bring to the internal data flow – as part of the Secretariat’s daily operations – and outside its boundaries (targeting mostly scientists, data analysts, policy makers, country-level focal points as well as national and regional management bodies).
The proposed changes aim at rationalizing the entire data management chain, all the way up from the data ingestion to the data dissemination steps, at the same time enabling data consumers to have a simpler and more effective way to get access to the data while still enforcing the confidentiality policies currently adopted by the Commission.
The most ambitious goal of this exercise is to increase the overall value of the data, transforming raw information into a valuable asset from the very first stages of the process, at the same time reducing the time-to-market prior to the final dissemination of regular information updates.
A description of the core and ancillary tools that the new data management processes will make available is given, detailing the impact that these tools will have on the Secretariat’s staff daily operations as well as on the broader community that relies on the disseminated information. The strong interactions between the new data management processes and the revised data collection forms are also highlighted, stressing out the need for the revised forms to be adopted to the largest extent possible.
An example of the extended functionalities that the new integrated data management system will provide is also shown, demonstrating the added value that these functionalities could bring if made publicly available through the IOTC website.
Also, preliminary results indicate that the time required to produce the expected data sets for assessment of data-poor species is greatly reduced with respect to the current processes. For more complex species (Tropical or Temperate tunas), we expect the same gain in terms of efficiency once all the involved processes are successfully implemented and tested.
As one of the key tasks required by the successful implementation of the new data management processes is the harmonization of the current reference data sets (including fleet codes, gear codes and species codes) we will also propose ad-interim procedures that we expect will be adopted by the end-users to ensure a smooth transition between the two systems.