1. The criteria and process for the approval of new tasks Draft proposal Jan René Larsen SAON Board Meeting, 1-2 October 2012, Potsdam,

2. Overview Action from Board meeting in Tromsø: “Develop a document on the criteria and process for the approval of new tasks. Present the document for discussion at the next Board meeting.” Input: ‘The SAON Brochure’ (2009) Input: Minutes from the workshop of the Arctic Data Coordination Network, IPY 2012, Montréal, Quebéc, Canada 27 April 2012 (‘The Montreal Workshop’) ‘The process for the approval of new tasks’: Pending governance structure

3. ‘The SAON Brochure’ The activity is currently functioning and not only a plan/idea. There is a defined point of contact and a process for regular dissemination of information (web site and/or newsletter). There is a public mechanism (preferably a web site) for obtaining information (metadata) about the observing activities and data. Data quality control procedures are in place. The principle of free and open data access is being followed to the maximum extent possible. Plans are in place for both medium and long-term data archival at nationally and/or internationally-recognized data repositories

4. From ‘The Montreal Workshop’ There is an identified data resource person The network or data centre must meet the requirements for World Data System certification (http://icsu-wds.org/wds-members/join- icsu-wds/criteria-membership-certification)http://icsu-wds.org/wds-members/join- icsu-wds/criteria-membership-certification The network/data centre must adhere to the IPY data policy The nation/data centre must use standard metadata that meets the needs of the discipline(s) Must harmonize with relevant international data systems (domain not discipline) In order for the SAON data network to be successful there must be periodic review of the participants in the network to ensure compliance and build capacity in interoperability and data brokering.

5. Process for approval of new Tasks Intersessional work Secretariat drafts a response, focusing on the criteria Response is reviewed and approved by the Executive Committee and/or the Board

6. More information www.arcticobserving.org