Title page
Contents
Acknowledgements 3
Executive summary 7
1. Flanders: An interesting case study for understanding the societal value of the reuse of public marine data 9
2. Marine and data policy context in Belgium and Flanders 11
Marine and maritime policies of the Government of Belgium and its international commitments 11
Data policies of the Flemish Government 12
Links between Flemish open data policies and Belgian ocean economic activity 14
Flanders' important role in the provision of international public marine data 15
3. The broad and beneficial reuses of public marine data from Flanders' repositories 16
Users are located in a large number of countries 16
Users work in diverse occupations: scientists, public officials, business managers and many others 17
Users come from sectors beyond government/policy areas which tend to fund repositories' activities 17
Individual users frequently use multiple repositories and would struggle to complete their tasks without them 18
Individual users access marine data from across the spectrum of parameter disciplines 21
Users combine marine data types from different parameter disciplines to generate the information they require in analysis 22
Reuses of public marine data are plentiful and have effects on a broad range of ocean economic activities 25
Value chains based on data from Flanders' repositories are varied, complex and indicate the broad reach of public marine data reuse 27
Reported use benefits reaffirm Flanders' role in providing easy access to quality data at near-zero cost to the user 30
4. Discussion, recommendations and next steps 32
References 35
Annex A. Brief note on survey design 37
Annex B. Flanders' national and international public marine data repositories 38
National marine data repositories 38
Bathymetric Portal 38
Coastal Portal 38
Coastal weather forecast 38
Marine Data Archive (MDA) 38
Marine Information and Data Acquisition Service (MIDAS) 39
Monitoring Network Flemish Banks 39
Wreck database 39
International marine data repositories 39
EMODnet BIOLOGY 39
European Ocean Biodiversity Information System 39
European Tracking Network (ETN) 40
LifeWatch 40
Marine Regions 40
Sea Level Station Monitoring Facility 40
World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) 40
Annex C. Mapping of action, field and industry survey options to diagram grouping categories 41
Annex D. Value chain diagrams by sector 43
Table 1. Respondents to the survey are based in 59 different countries on six continents 16
Table 2. A broad range of ocean economy occupations is apparent in the survey results with marine scientists making up the largest group of respondents 17
Table 3. Themes of societal benefits considered to commonly appear in freehand responses are distributed differently among respondents using Flanders' national... 31
Figure 1. Cities participating in the Smart Flanders programme include the coastal city of Ostend and the port city of Antwerp 12
Figure 2. Nearly half of respondents work in academic/research settings 18
Figure 3. Different occupations are carried out by respondents from the same sector 19
Figure 4. Survey respondents use both nationally and internationally focused Flanders based repositories 20
Figure 5. Most respondents use Flanders' public marine data repositories on a monthly or more frequent basis 20
Figure 6. Users would need to make alternative, potentially more costly, arrangements if Flanders' repositories did not exist 21
Figure 7. Respondents use data from Flanders' repositories that span the range of common marine parameter disciplines 22
Figure 8. Respondents often reported using data accessed via repositories from multiple parameter disciplines 23
Figure 9. Actions relating to the innovation process were regularly selected by respondents but so were those concerned with education, planning and regulations 26
Figure 10. Fields in which actions are carried out go far beyond the fields for which the data are originally collected such as marine science 26
Figure 11. Reuses of public marine data from Flanders' repositories have effects on a wide range of industries associated with the ocean economy 27
Figure 12. Conceptual value chains collected by the survey reveal many avenues through which public marine data generate value for society 28
Figure 13. Nationally focused value chains are also diverse but reflect differences in the data types made available by Flanders' national and international repositories 29
Boxes
Box 1. Summary of the results of an OECD survey of the users of marine data archive and management centres in United Kingdom 10
Box 2. Intersection between data policies of the Flemish Government and public marine data in Flanders 13
Box 3. Case studies: Use of Flanders public marine among national and international organisations 24
Annex Tables
Table A C.1. Actions taken with data: Mapping of survey options to grouping categories for diagrams 41
Table A C.2. Fields in which actions are taken with data: Mapping of survey options to grouping categories for diagrams 41
Table A C.3. Industries affected: Mapping of survey options to grouping categories for diagrams 42
Annex Figures
Figure A D.1. "Academia" sector public marine data value chain 43
Figure A D.2. "Consultancy" sector public marine data value chain 44
Figure A D.3. "Government" sector public marine data value chain 45
Figure A D.4. "Industry" sector public marine data value chain 46
Figure A D.5. "Non-governmental organisation" sector public marine data value chain 47
Figure A D.6. "Recreational" sector public marine data value chain 48