ObsSea4Clim works on the development of Ocean Practices Federated Network (OPFN) – a network uniting distributed and independent systems by cross-linking the content of regional and global platforms.

The recently published Milestone 17 (MS17) lays out a list of requirements, a framework, a conceptual design and a roadmap for the implementation of the Ocean Practices Federated Network (OPFN).

What are the objectives of OPFN?

The OPFN will be a crucial response to the need for global access and adoption of standardized methodologies for understanding, forecasting and managing oceans with a focus on climate processes and impacts.

In particular, the OPFN aims to:

• Streamline and enhance the transparency for access, comparison and application of distributed and diverse methodologies in ocean observation
• Allow organizations, programmes, networks, as well as projects and other short-term initiatives to preserve, organize, and track the re-use and sharing of their methodological know-how
• Drive a cultural shift towards global sharing and adoption of best practices among diverse ocean communities leading to consistent observational techniques and data management methods
• Leverage rapidly evolving digital technologies supporting the single-point discovery of ocean observation methods whilst maintaining distributed content access.

Key characteristics of OPFN

• Reusable: can be used across applications with minimal modification.
• Portability: can be operated on multiple types of platforms
• Inversion of Control (IoC): can call both codes and functions at specifi c points for processing.
• Predefined Structure: offers a skeleton or blueprint for organizing and implementing solutions.
• Common structure: supports consistency in metadata, software tools and visualization (UI).
• Extensible: allows developers to extend and customize components while adhering to its structure.
• Evolution: provides adaptability for evolving technologies
• User and Web Accessibility: provides authentications and other related support services

Next steps

Phase 1: Preparation and stakeholder engagement

Phase 2: Architectural design and prototype development

Phase 3: Pilot implementation and iteration

Phase 4: Full operational capability and consolidation

Find more information in the MS17 report: https://zenodo.org/records/14946530