ICAN Tech Team Member Roy Lowry receives IODE Achievement Award

International

ICAN is a project of UNESCO IOC´s IODE Programme, and ICAN members seek to play a leadership role in forging international collaborations of value to the participating nations, thereby optimizing regional governance in coastal zone management and marine spatial planning.

Coastal

We live on a blue planet, with oceans and seas that cover more than 70% of the Earth's surface. The oceans feed us, regulate our climate, and generate most of the oxygen we breathe. Approximately 37% of the world's population lives within 100 km of the coast. (UNEP)

Atlas

CWAs are "...collections of digital maps and datasets with supplementary tables, illustrations, & information that systematically illustrate the coast, oftentimes with cartographic & decision support tools, all of which are accessible via the Internet." O'Dea et al., 2007

Network

Membership in ICAN is open to all interested parties who agree to the mission & objectives of ICAN, including those with an operational coastal web atlas, as well as those hoping to design and build a coastal web atlas in the future.

Details: Published: 09 March 2013 09 March 2013

Roy has made numerous contributions to IODE over the past 3 decades – beginning with the software to accompany General Format 3 (GF3) in the 1980s – an early attempt at interoperability! The (GF3) system was developed by IODE as a generalised formatting system for the exchange and archival of data within the international oceanographic community. The next stage of Roy's career was spent compiling integrated data sets from major multidisciplinary oceanographic field programmes for UK, European and international projects, including leading the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) Data Management Task Team. This also included a lot of work on controlled vocabularies which has evolved into one of his main areas of interest and impact. In particular, over the last 10 years or so, he has focused on the development of semantic infrastructure both in terms of technical and content governance.

Roy is responsible for the semantic framework underpinning the EU SeaDataNet project (which includes IODE) and has also led the ontologies work package for the NETwork for MARine Environmental Data (NETMAR) project and the ICAN coastal erosion and water quality ontologies. One final area of Roy's influence which should be mentioned is his contribution to the emerging subject of data publication and citation, through his contribution to the workshops and case studies of the joint project established between SCOR, MBLWHOI and IODE to investigate this topic. One last comment: Roy is a person who likes to get things done – and done properly! And he is always happy to discuss areas of interest whether in a workshop or over some beers! ICAN would add its appreciation to the that of the IODE for Roy's tremendous achievements.

Liz O’Dea said “Roy has been a valuable contributor to the ICAN Technical Working Group since ICAN’s inception, sharing his knowledge and providing great insight.”
(Extensive excerpts were used from the presentation speech published on the IODE website www.iode.org which also has a video of the award presentation.)

Language

Search

Join Us!

Membership in ICAN is open to all interested parties who agree to the mission and objectives of ICAN, including organizations with an operational coastal web atlas, as well as individuals or organizations hoping to design and build a coastal web atlas in the future.