This “how” is important and it was the theme of a recent training workshop held by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Ostend. The workshop was attended by more than 60 participants from different organizations and disciplines such cell biology, geology, conservation and satellite data provision who came to learn more about the new and updated cloud infrastructure.

The three-day workshop was held as part of the SeaDataCloud project to which GRID-Arendal is connected through its work on EMODnet. In this project GRID-Arendal coordinates the collation of bathymetric data and metadata for the Norwegian Sea and will produce a final bathymetry model for the region. EMODnet is just one of many data centres connected as part of the SeaDataCloud project

The cloud makes it easier to for different users and data centres to connect and makes data sharing much easier to manage than it used to be. The challenge is not storing the data but being able to retrieve it based on what the user needs. The cloud makes this happen.

SeaDataNet Cloud is a leading European distributor of marine data infrastructure for the management of large and diverse sets of sea and oceans data. Its facilities hold data from multi-disciplinary research projects and models, industrial projects, education and marine environmental assessment.

GRID-Arendal participated in the workshop because we will be upgrading our EMODnet system to allow more flexibile data management. The well-organized workshop included hands-on training sessions on working with the upgraded tools and services that will help GRID-Arendal to continue developing EMODnet.