Below are some useful guiding principles and overarching data policies that can be considered when beginning to address, or trying to improve, the data management and sharing practices of your project, programme and/or action.

It may also in some instances for Programmes to consider an adapted overarching Data Policy and Terms of Use.

• IOC Data Policy – In 2023, the IOC adopted its new IOC data policy where reference is made to FAIR and CARE and licensing. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379785
• EuroGOOS developed and published a new data policy in 2023, which requires its members’ commitment to share core ocean data openly according to the FAIR principles and clear licences. This policy is the European implementation of the IOC Data Policy and Terms of Use: https://repository.oceanbestpractices.org/bitstream/handle/11329/2438/EuroGOOS%20Data%20Policy%202023.pdf
• The FAIR Guiding Principles for Scientific Data Management and stewardship https://www.nature.com/articles/sdata201618. Many resources on how to implement the FAIR data principles are made available by the GO-FAIR initiative: go-fair.org/resources/
• The CARE principles for indigenous data governance https://storage.googleapis.com/jnl-up-j-dsj-files/journals/1/articles/1158/submission/proof/1158-1-8528-2-10-20201104.pdf
• Operationalising the CARE and FAIR Principles for Indigenous data futures: nature.com/articles/s41597-021-00892-0

NOAA has implemented the Data Management Planning Procedural Directive to ensure that data are properly documented, made accessible, and preserved for future use. All NOAA or NOAA contractors who are generating data have to apply the Directive when managing digitally formatted environmental data and derived data products resulting from observing systems, numerical models, human-collected measurements, research projects, or other acquisition methods. Read the Directive: https://nosc.noaa.gov/EDMC/PD.DMP.php

With the goal of building the social and technical infrastructure to enable open sharing and re-use of data, the Research Data Alliance (RDA) was launched as a community-driven initiative in 2013 by the European Commission, the United States Government’s National Science Foundation and National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Australian Government’s Department of Innovation. Find out more: www.rd-alliance.org/.