Ocean Data and Information System

The Ocean Data and Information System (ODIS) is a digital ecosystem in which a global community of organisations – large and small – share and exchange their (meta)data to better understand and steward the Ocean.

Established and emerging data systems are interlinked through the ODIS Architecture – a set of technical norms and conventions designed to promote digital interoperability across and beyond the ocean domain.  The ODIS Federation co-governs the ODIS Architecture, bridging digital divides in support of global insight and action.

Data systems that join ODIS are able to co-develop the federation’s digital culture to represent their capacities and missions. As a result, users from diverse backgrounds are more likely to discover resources that match their needs, even from systems previously unknown to them. As ODIS grows and evolves, it will facilitate ever deeper and broader exchange of global data and capacity for the benefit of all. Coordination and support for both the social and technical aspects of this digital ecosystem is provided by the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, leveraging its many decades of experience in multilateral digital development.

“ODIS brings together interdisciplinary and cross-domain communities which seek to share .”