The Flemish government's oceanographic research vessel RV Zeeleeuw was officially handed over to the Republic of Kenya on 3 May 2013. The ship will sail under the Kenyan flag and will be named RV Mtafiti, which is Swahili for ‘researcher’.

 The donation of the vessel fell within a collaboration between Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI). On 19 October 2012 the two institutes signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for bilateral collaboration in the field of marine sciences.

 The name is said to be appropriate, since RV Zeeleeuw has served Belgian and international marine researchers in the southern bight of the North Sea, for thirteen years. Also in Kenya the ship will continue to serve marine research and will be managed by the KMFRI. The 3 May 2013 the final documents for the handover of the vessel were signed by Mr. Mutua Kilaka (Financial Secretary for the Kenyan Ministry of Finance). Within the frame of the MoU, VLIZ will co-ordinate and facilitate the translocation of the vessel, co-operate in all scientific operations such as providing and placing scientific instruments on board of the ship, training IT staff, scientific assistants, students, etc. The research vessel itself will further strengthen the co-operation between Belgium and Kenya in the field of marine research, technology and education. Until the end of May 2013, the elected Kenyan captain and engineer and the RV Mtafiti will be prepared for sailing. If all goes well, the RV Mtafiti should leave the harbour of Ostend and set sail to Mombasa via the Suez Canal mid-June 2013. The journey should take approximately 33 days, with the arrival at the harbour of Mombasa around mid-July 2013 where the research vessel will receive a great welcome ceremony to fit this milestone in marine research at the West-Indian coast.

Already in its 4th edition, the EMBC-OTA Accredited Course ‘Introduction to Ocean Data Management’ was held at Ghent University, Belgium, between 29 April and 3 May 2013. The course was attended by 26 students who follow the Erasmus Mundus Biodiversity Conservation (EMBC) MSc Programme and was taught by Dr Murray Brown (IODE-OTA teacher). The course provided a comprehensive introduction to a wide variety of earth science datasets (hydrosphere, atmosphere and geosphere), formats and analysis software programs (including a Geographic Information System [GIS]). During the course students learned and practiced methods using a common ocean area offshore Africa, but also created a personal project of data products for other marine regions of their choice. At the end of the course students presented their personal projects. The course content can be visited through http://classroom.oceanteacher.org/course/view.php?id=160.

The second ODINAFRICA Websites development workshop was held in Nairobi, Kenya between 25-27 April 2013. The course was attended by 23 participants and the course was taught by Mr Aditya Naik Kakodkar (IT developer of the IOC project office for IODE, Oostende) and Samuel Ngete (KMFRI, Kenya).Prior to 2013 NODC websites were presented in simple HTML. Managing content within a HTML website was not straight forward. It caused a lot of operational problems, including requirements such as knowledge of HTML and FTP. Joomla was chosen as a content management system. Websites were developed for each NODC with a common template. During this workshop content managers were trained to manager content in Joomla CMS. The course content can be visited through  http://classroom.oceanteacher.org/course/view.php?id=166. More info on the course can be found HERE.

The "2013 International Conference on Marine Data and Information Systems" (IMDIS 2013) will be held in San Romano-Lucca, Italy between 23-25 September 2013.

The IMDIS series of Conferences is promoting the meeting of different communities working in informatics, data management, research, environmental protection, etc. It is focused on-line access to data, meta-data and products, communication standards and adapted technology to ensure platforms interoperability. IMDIS 2013 aims at providing an overview of the existing information on marine environmental data, and showing the progresses on development of efficient infrastructures for managing large and diverse data sets. IMDIS 2013 is organized in cooperation with IODE. More information can be found on the web site  http://imdis2013.seadatanet.org/

Remember that the submission deadline for abstracts is 30 April 2013!

Looking forward to seeing you in Lucca!

15 - 16 October 2013, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan. This international Forum will address effective polar data management, including submission of metadata and data, sharing of data to facilitate new interdisciplinary science, and long-term preservation and stewardship of data at the international level. To ensure the IPY data legacy, presentations on the successes and challenges encountered during IPY will highlight not only the best practices but also the shortcomings. This event is open to all scientific disciplines, and interdisciplinary data management topics are especially encouraged. A significant outcome of the Forum will be the development of a new strategy and structure for the Arctic Data Network under the auspices of SAON, IASC, and the Arctic Council. Discussions involving the different communities will provide a strong foundation to forge interdisciplinary connections and explore new horizons for polar data management. In particular, an updated plan for polar data archives, including as the PIC cloud system, will be discussed. Abstract submission is now open with a deadline of 15 June 2013. Registration opens on 1 July 2013 until 15 September 2013. For more information about the Polar Data Forum, please see the  First Circular and visit the Forum website.