At the 22nd Session of the International Oceanographic Data and Exchange (IODE) committee of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) that concluded in Ensenada, Mexico on 15 March 2013, ICAN was accepted as an official project of the IODE. A modest budget through until 2015 was also approved. In the recommendation leading to the approval, the IODE noted “with appreciation that ICAN has already influenced, guided and informed users on development and use of coastal and marine web atlases, through periodic workshops and international conferences held in 2006, 007, 2008, 2009, and 2011.” and acknowledged “the importance of atlases as interdisciplinary products that assist decision makers .” The recommendation also encouraged Member States to support the development of IODE/ICAN.

Members of the Interim Steering Committee for the IODE/ ICAN Project

Dawn Wright, who represented  ICAN at the meeting, stated in her message to ICAN members after the project was approved that “our acceptance into IODE gives ICAN some long-term sustainability in terms of both international notoriety and funding, also with acknowledgement of the important role that coastal web atlases play within the overall universe of oceanographic data management, decision-support and associated capacity building. Now that we are under the umbrella of IODE, we are also linked to other important efforts” such as  GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System), ICAM (Integrated Coastal Area Management), GEO/GEOSS (Group on Earth Observations/Group on Earth Observations System of Systems).

The strategic goal of the IODE / ICAN Project is to encourage and help facilitate the development of digital atlases of the global coast, based on the principle of distributed, high-quality data and information, at local, regional, national or international scale. This will be achieved by sharing knowledge and experience among atlas developers in order to find common solutions for coastal and marine web atlas development while ensuring maximum relevance and added value for users. Many of these atlases will play an important role in informing national and regional decision- and policy-making across several themes, including: marine spatial planning, climate change impacts, coastal vulnerability, coastal governance (boundaries, protected areas, etc.),    coastal conservation and protected areas management, coastal hazards monitoring and planning, coastal disaster management and mitigation, population pressures and resource availability and extraction. The participants in the Project will include all experts previously involved in ICAN as well as other relevant experts designated by IOC Member States. An interim Steering Committee has been established. The members of the Steering Committee are listed in the table above.