Monthly Brief Meeting Reports p. 1‐119 New Hydrographers P. 120‐134 1 JANUARY 13th Meeting of the Data Quality Working Group (DQWG) IHO Secretariat, Monaco, 15–19 January Contribution to the IHO Work Programme 2018 Task 2.1.2.6 HSSC WGs meetings / DQWG S‐57 Framework / S‐67 – Mariners’ Guide to Task 2.4.9 Accuracy of ENCs The 13th meeting of the IHO Data Quality Working Group (DQWG) took place at the IHO Secretariat, Monaco, from 15 to 19 January. The meeting was chaired by Mr Rogier Broekman (Netherlands) supported by Mr Sean Legeer (US), as Vice‐Chair, and Mr Jyrki Mononen (Finland), as rapporteur. Ten delegates from nine Member States (Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom and United States of America) attended the meeting as well as a representative from RENC PRIMAR. Director Abri Kampfer, Technical Standards Support Officer Jeff Wootton and Assistant Director Yves Guillam represented the IHO Secretariat. Participants in the DQWG‐13 meeting, IHO Secretariat, Monaco According to its new terms of reference adopted at the 9th meeting of the Hydrographic Services and Standards Committee (HSSC‐9), one of the main objectives of the DQWG is to ensure that the data quality aspects are addressed in an appropriate and harmonized way for all S‐100 based product specifications. 2 The first two days of the meeting were dedicated to a workshop addressing data quality aspects of the S‐101 – ENC Product Specification ‐ Data Classification and Encoding Guide (DCEG), and the best practices on the way CATZOC values are populated for S‐57 ENCs by Hydrographic Offices. This workshop highlighted useful rules implemented by some countries (generalization, impact of the passage of time, assessment of so‐called unsurveyed areas, conversion tables from S‐44 survey metadata to CATZOC values, etc.). The workshop and the meeting also aimed at capturing the generic data quality components to be considered in the development of a data quality checklist for S‐100 based products. After an introduction of ISO quality aspects and the INSPIRE1 technical guidelines for quality elements depicted in the Data Specification on Elevation, a systematic review and comparison was made between existing S‐100 based draft product specifications. Special focus was aimed at S‐102 – Bathymetric Surface, thanks to the participation of the representative from PRIMAR. The meeting also considered the comments made by the members of the Nautical Information Provision and Nautical Cartography Working Groups on the draft publication S‐67 – Mariners’ Guide to Accuracy of ENCs. It was concluded that a fair amount of work is still needed before this publication is re‐submitted to HSSC for endorsement. As it remains a top priority to address mariners’ requirements with regard to the quality of bathymetric data, the working group considered different methodologies to help in the decision making process (combination of safety depths and contours with data quality) while the portrayal aspects will need to be addressed by the Nautical Cartography Working Group. The next meeting is planned at the IHO Secretariat, Monaco, from 5 to 8 February 2019. Further information concerning the meeting is available on the IHO web site at www.iho.int > Committees & WG > DQWG > DQWG‐13 > Documents. 1 Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe. 3 8th e-Navigation Underway International Conference MS Pearl Seaways, at Sea, 24 to 26 January Contribution to the IHO Work Programme 2018 E‐navigation Underway Task 2.1.6.1 International 2018 The 8th e‐Navigation Underway International conference was held from 24th to 26th January 2018 on board the DFDS ferry M/S PEARL SEAWAYS, during which time she sailed from Copenhagen to Oslo and then returned to Copenhagen. The theme for the conference was the realization of the Maritime Service Portfolios. Participants to the 8th e‐Navigation Underway Conference The conference was attended by 144 delegates, representing 29 countries and 7 international organizations. The associated exhibition attracted 3 exhibitors, displaying the latest developments in e‐navigation. Following welcoming remarks from Bjørn Borbye Pedersen of the Danish Maritime Authority, Conference Chair, and opening addresses from Francis Zachariae, Secretary‐General of IALA, Andreas Nordseth, Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority, the key note speech was given by Mr Niels Smedegaard, President and CEO of DFDS (Det Forenede Dampskibs‐Selskab). A series of 28 presentations were given under the broad headings of general perspectives, e‐navigation projects and testbeds, autonomous solutions in the maritime domain, specific e‐navigation solutions, and building blocks for e‐navigation. Director Abri Kampfer, representing the IHO, presented the progress in developing S‐100 that has been recognized as the baseline standard for e‐navigation. Abri Kampfer addressing the Conference 4 As a result of the 28 presentations and related discussions that took place over the three days of the Conference, six highlights were identified: Ship‐owners have clearly realized the potential and business cases in e‐navigation both in the areas of safety, efficiency and cost reduction. Increasing attention is being paid to harmonized standards for services and products which are necessary for e‐navigation. Disruption of the maritime industry driven by exponential technological change demands faster stakeholder and regulatory response to achieve the benefits of new technology for human needs. There is increasing collaboration between test bed operators, leading to an acceleration in the realization of new digital maritime services and connectivity infrastructure. Several major projects and global test beds have tested VDES (WHF Digital Data Exchange System) with good results using both terrestrial and satellite platforms. VDES prototypes are now on the way for use on ships and ashore. Autonomous systems, driven by the business case, are becoming operational and authorities and organizations must prepare. The presentations from the sessions are provided on the IALA web site at http://www.iala‐ aism.org/products‐projects/e‐navigation/e‐nav‐underway/e‐nav‐underway‐international‐ 2018/. An invitation was issued to the 2018 e‐Navigation Underway (North America) Conference to be held in California in the autumn of 2018 and to the second e‐Navigation Underway – Asia‐Pacific 2018 conference to be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 3rd to 5th June 2018. An invitation was also issued to the 9th e‐Navigation Underway International conference to be held on board ship in early 2019. 5 FEBRUARY 7th meeting of the IHO-EU Network Working Group Saint‐Mandé, France, 06‐07 February Contribution to the IHO Work Programme 2018 Task 1.1.4 Attendance 7th IENWG The IHO‐EU Network Working Group (IENWG), established by the Inter‐Regional Coordination Committee (IRCC) to monitor and deal with the activities and processes developed under the aegis of the European Union (EU), held its seventh meeting in Saint‐Mandé, France, on 6 and 7 February 2018, at the invitation of the French Hydrographic Office (Shom). The meeting was chaired by Laurent Louvart (France) and attended by representatives from the following Regional Hydrographic Commissions: - Baltic Sea Hydrographic Commission (Sweden), - Eastern Atlantic Hydrographic Commission (France), - Meso American ‐ Caribbean Sea Hydrographic Commission (France), - Nordic Hydrographic Commission (Norway), - South Africa and Islands Hydrographic Commission (France), - South West Pacific Hydrographic Commission (France). - North Sea Hydrographic Commission (Germany) Apologies had been received from Denmark, representing the Arctic Regional Hydrographic Commission and Greece representing the Mediterranean and Black Sea Hydrographic Commission. Representatives from the Italian Hydrographic Office and a representative from Ireland participated, both as Associate Members. Director Abri Kampfer represented the Secretariat of the IHO. Participants to the 7th IENWG meeting 6 The main objective of the meeting was to finalize the IENWG plenary session programme planned on 27 and 28 February in Brussels. The programme will include feedback on the progress with the European Maritime Spatial Planning directive as an outcome of participation in the Expert Group of States. The deadline for the establishment of Maritime Spatial Plans (MSP) is 2021. Member States are in different stages of their MSP development processes, using different methodologies and tools. Although Hydrographic Offices (HOs) are potentially key players for MSP due to their experience of using many reference data, some are not involved in their national organisation for MSP. IENWG took an action of promoting the role of HOs for MSP and noting a strategy to improve participation will need to be determined. Progress of the Coastal Mapping Project, funded by the European Commission in support of the development of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) and in particular phase III of the component of EMODnet, was discussed Discussion will also be required on ways to collaborate with the IHO‐IOC/GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project. The meeting also considered the possible development of a European Strategy for High Resolution Coastal Bathymetric Data Acquisition Programmes. There is an expectation that 14 countries will be represented at the plenary, namely Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. An important