About
About World Data System
The World Data System (WDS) acts under the leadership of the Scientific Committee. The International Program Office (WDS-IPO) coordinates the operations of WDS and is responsible for implementing the decisions of the Scientific Committee. It is also responsible for organizing the meetings of the Scientific Committee, the biennial WDS Conference (SciDataCon), the WDS Members’ Forum, and outreach and promotional activities. The IPO is based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States of America, hosted by the University of Tennessee Oak Ridge Innovation Institute.
The International Technology Office (WDS-ITO) supports repositories as they maintain and upgrade their services, including creation of technical roadmaps and mature infrastructure. It is responsible for research to support technical services for repositories including creating user interfaces, crosswalks, and complex queries. The ITO is based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, hosted by the University of Victoria.
Oversight
Scientific Committee
2021-2024
Chair: David Castle
Dr. David Castle is a Professor in the School of Public Administration and the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria. He is also a Research in Residence at the Office of the Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada.
Vice Chair: Claudia Medeiros
Institute of Computing, University of Campinas, Brazil
Vice Chair: Hugh Shanahan
Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom
Christine Choirat
Swiss Federal Statistics Office, Switzerland
Mamoru Ishii
National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan
Margaret Levenstein
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, United States of America
Libby Liggins
Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
Yasuhiro Murayama
National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan
Marc Nyssen
Free University Brussels, Belgium
Dale Peters
Independent research infrastructure consultant
Ioana Popescu
Department of Integrated Water Systems and Governance, IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands
Juanle Wang
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Past Members 2018-2022
David Castle
Aude Chambodut
Alex de Sherbinin
Sabrina Delgado Arias
Arona Diedhiou
Ingrid Dillo
Elaine M. Faustman
Alice Frémand
Aminata Garba
Isabelle Gärtner-Roer
Heide Hackmann
Sandy Harrison
Toshihiko Iyemori
Yasuhiro Murayama
Claudia Medeiros
Mayra Oyola-Merced
Marc Nyssen
David J. Patterson
Benoît Pirenne
Iona Popescu
Alfredo Tolmasquim
Juanle Wang
Lianchong Zhang
History of WDS
World Data Centers
WDS builds on the 50+ year legacy of the World Data Centers and Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical data analysis Services established by the International Council for Science (ICSU) to manage data generated by the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958). It became clear after the International Polar Year (2007–2008) that these bodies were not able to respond fully to modern data needs, and they were thus disbanded by the ICSU General assembly in 2008 and replaced by the World Data System in 2009.