Making the Case for Data Stewardship Use Cases Through Better Stakeholder Connections

At the summer 2013 ESIP meeting, we proposed through FUNding Friday a project to improve stakeholder connection for long-term data stewardship, specifically by highlighting the Data Stewardship Committee’s (DSC) emerging Provenance and Context Content Standard (PCCS) use case activities.  To that end, we organized three events at the fall 2013 AGU meeting, the largest meeting of geoscience professionals (attendance was over 24,000). Two events were paper presentations - one promoting the broader application of the DSC’s use cases (which won an OSPA), and the other a specific example of a PCCS use case - the implementation of PCCS at the Geological Survey of Alabama. Most importantly, we organized a town hall session on data stewardship.

This town hall, titled “Connecting Data Stakeholders for a Long-term Vision of Data Stewardship,” consisted of a panel of five diverse data stewardship experts from different backgrounds, followed by lively discussion amongst the attendees.  It concluded with a presentation by Anne Wilson regarding ESIP’s efforts towards a Data Survey.

These activities, particularly the Town Hall, were a success, with many participants seeking out the presenters and/or organizers to learn more about current ESIP efforts or to express interest in further collaboration. Positive feedback was also received from both the presentations, particularly from those outside of the ESIP community. This poster will summarize what was presented, the feedback received, and possible paths forward.