The Data Governance Subcommittee has expertise in environmental data management and data infrastructure within public and private entities and works across all other RWSC Subcommittees to identify data gaps and policy and process needs that relate to the standardized collection, documentation, storage, and reuse of data in wildlife/environment monitoring.
The Subcommittee meets multiple times per year. All are welcome to participate. Subscribe to the RWSC newsletter to receive monthly reminders and calendar invitations. View the latest Data Governance Subcommittee Meeting materials.
WORK PRODUCTS
Many of the Data Governance Subcommittee’s work products can be found on the Research & Data page.
RWSC Data Policy
The RWSC Data Policy specifically applies to work supported by RWSC research funding and is designed to help inform other policies, contracts, and agreements so that research can advance knowledge, be used in decision-making, and have wide utility to researchers, government agencies, and others. The Policy is available under the terms of the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication so that anyone can repurpose and reuse its contents, in whole or in part.
Recommended contract language
A github repository that includes publicly available information about recommended language for research agreements and contracts to ensure interoperable data.
Essential metadata guidelines
Metadata describing every research and monitoring dataset collected are required to ensure that all data can be found, indexed, and accessed via a Data Catalog. These essential metadata are meant to apply across all research domains and subject areas, and for all research outputs related to offshore wildlife.
Data Management & Sharing Plan (DMSP) Template
RWSC developed a data management plan template on DMPTool.org that is customized to capture critical information identified by the RWSC Subcommittees and that will generate a DMSP compliant with RWSC data management recommendations and requirements.
Glossary of data management and governance terms
A useful reference for the terminology used by RWSC and partners to refer to data management and governance work.
Assessment of data repositories and progress toward understanding the data landscape to build a Data Catalog
To facilitate coordinated research and analysis for wildlife and marine ecosystems, the Data Governance Subcommittee has been working with other taxa- and habitat-focused RWSC Subcommittees to identify and recommend long-term storage options for each type of data described in the Science Plan.