ICAN Membership Statement of Support/Intent to Collaborate
Membership in ICAN is open to all interested parties, 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. Those working in academia, local, state, and federal governments, ocean observing system projects, non-profit organizations, and conservation groups have all expressed interest in ICAN and are encouraged to participate.
For background on ICAN, interested parties should first review:
The growth of the ICAN network has been the result of the time, creativity, and commitment of its members. By joining ICAN, we encourage members to become active in promoting the advancement of coastal web atlases in their own geographies and across the globe. Ways in which members of the ICAN network can contribute to its success include:
- placing the ICAN logo prominently on your atlas web site AND providing a link back to ican.iode.org
- collaborating on a wide range of ICAN projects and activities. This may include proposals for funding as appropriate opportunities arise, contributing expertise and/or tools for projects, developing best practices for coastal web atlases, participating in an ICAN working group, and promoting ICAN within your organization and partner networks
- attending ICAN workshops or meetings as time, interest, and funding allow
- raising awareness of ICAN and presenting ICAN-related activities at appropriate events as opportunities arise
- implementing at present or at some point in the future an installation of OGC's Catalog Services for the Web (CSW), so as to eventually be federated globally, regionally or nationally (includes harvesting of your atlas' metadata)
- posting a logo and summary details about your atlas project and personnel for inclusion in ICAN's member and expertise directories. The atlas summary should follow this template
- informing ICAN’s Steering Group chair if you wish to withdraw your membership
To become a member of ICAN, or if you need more information or wish to be kept apprised of our progress, please feel free to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Benefits of Participating in ICAN
Benefits of participating in ICAN include:
- Your coastal web atlas (CWA) can be part of and interoperable with a larger universe of resources that is needed for effective marine spatial planning, resource management, and emergency planning.
- Communication channel for CWAs in your own region to enhance collaborative study or spatial planning within a region or nation, where you may already have a mandate, with increased benefit of linking internationally.
- Learn how your CWA can become a framework for discussion of critical resource management and scientific issues in your region.
- Guidance and best practices for your own local CWA development. You have access to a community of experts in the IT, GIS, data management and coastal and marine governance domains.
- Assistance in finding maps, datasets, and related informational resources.
- Potential to exchange and reuse software and technical solutions developed using Open Source solutions.
- Linkage to broader communities such as SeaDataNet and similar “cyberinfrastructures”, along with their accompanying tools, solutions, and best practices.
- Great publicity for your individual CWA via the outreach efforts of ICAN. This can help with promoting your CWA with decision makers.
- Possibility to leverage funding for collaborative projects among ICAN participants
- Participate in teaching and learning activities organised by ICAN or other organisations in the CWA domain.
A major focus within ICAN is also on the benefits of semantic interoperability, and the benefits not only to users, but to data providers.
See this excellent presentation on the benefits of interoperability by Cyndy Chandler of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), which was given at a 2008 Marine Metadata Interoperability (MMI) workshop. [1.8 Mb pdf]
Draft ICAN Benefits of Coastal Web Atlas Interoperability statement (*.doc) that was discussed at ICAN 4, Trieste, Italy, November 2009.
On Finding ICAN
ICAN 6 [..] just happened to be occurring at the local university. Not entirely certain that I should be attending, I did. It was a revelation! I discovered that what [we] were really doing was building a coastal atlas. I discovered that groups around the world had done similar things and were significantly further along the learning curve than us. I discovered it was important to design data systems so that sharing was integral. And most importantly, I was made welcome by the international attendees.
