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Maritime Forum

Analysis of Data Needs and Existing Gaps in Celtic Seas

to see how marine data meets the needs of those who need to develop spatial plans that are compatible with those of their neighbours

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The analysis of data needs and existing gaps particularly highlights the issues below:

  • There are many relevant layers for transboundary MSP. Some countries have conduced national inventories identifying reference data producers or sources to collect data. Considering transboundary issues, it is useful for Members States and planners to access to the knowledge related to neighbouring States waters. The minimum useful information is the availability and coverage of data. Webservices are an easy way to access to it as they allow reading data and information without having to collect or download it. These useful data formats are much less available. When some relevant data for MSP in a transboundary context is not listed in the inventory of this report, it is not denying that the data exists, but it highlights that it is not easily available in these useful formats.
  • Data harmonisation is probably the main concern linked to data for transboundary MSP.
  • Consistent layers covering the whole area of interest are indeed necessary, and very difficult to obtain when datasets from different jurisdiction have various portrayal, not the same attribute information, etc. The action plan led by SIMCelt C1.2.2 will have a large part dedicated to improving data harmonisation in Celtic Seas.
  • Data publication progress: several important datasets for maritime spatial planning are not available in an Inspire-compliant format (and so it is for metadata publication). However the situation is gradually evolving.
  • Licencing can become an essential issue in a cross-border context, and in a dynamic of sharing harmonised information. Many datasets have restrictive use, even for non-commercial purposes. However, there is positive progress encouraged by legislation evolution (for example, in France, data from public services will have to be open data).
  • Finally several technical challenges are identified, like issues when trying to visualize data brought by different protocols. The problem is mainly met when trying to connect to SOAP protocol emitted by ArcGIS server. One possible answer could be to ask the responsible administrations to activate WMS services.

full report