Please note that, as of the end of 2008 following the ICSU General Assembly in Maputo, Mozambique, the Panel on World Data Centers no longer exists and that the World Data Centers will be incorporated into the new ICSU World Data System (WDS) in 2009. A similar procedure will involve members of the Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical data-analysis Services (FAGS) grouping of ICSU. In addition, it is envisaged that additional (i.e. non-FAGS and non-WDC) organizations will be encouraged to join the new WDS. When the WDS has its own web site, this WDC web site will be discontinued. At the time of writing, a Transition Team composed of former WDC Panel and FAGS Council members is discussing how best to organize the transition arrangements to the new WDS without interruptions in the services provided by existing organizations.

About the World Data Center System

Scientific data gathering has a long history. Chinese and other peoples chronicled information about solar and auroral activity in past millennia. In the Western world, systematic geophysical measurements extend back for centuries. The first large-scale international scientific enterprises were the International Polar Years of 1882-1883 and 1932-1933, which eventually led to the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958 (IGY). The International Council of Scientific Unions (now International Council for Science) established the World Data Center system to serve the IGY, and developed data management plans for each IGY scientific discipline. Multiple Centers were established to guard against catastrophic loss of data, and for the convenience of data providers and users. The IGY planners were remarkably prescient: the 1955 recommendation mentioned that Data Centers should be prepared to handle data in machine-readable form, which at that time meant punched cards and punched tape.

Since the IGY, technological advances have transformed the gathering and exchange of data. Scientific, technical, and economic factors have led to the consolidation of some WDCs--particularly in solar terrestrial science--and the creation of new ones-- particularly in earth and environmental science. As of December 2003, 52 WDCs are operating in Europe, Russia, Japan, India, China, Australia, and the United States. Data are available at the cost of reproduction, and fees may be waived if an exchange can be arranged. Data are accepted in many formats, provided that they have adequate documentation. Please contact the appropriate WDC for more information on contributing and exchanging data.

Today the WDC system is healthy and viable. Most Centers are maintaining their funding, though not without struggle. Data acquisition, storage, and distribution are expensive. WDCs cost money, but they are cost-effective in transferring data to users, and their operational costs represent a tiny fraction of worldwide scientific activity and the on-going potential for discovery from properly prepared, preserved, and available data.

URL: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/about.shtml