1. Increasing Membership in the ICSU World Data System
Alex de Sherbinin
WDS Scientific Committee member
NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)
CIESIN, Columbia University

2. Why join the ICSU WDS? Heightened profile with the imprimatur of ICSU
Increased visibility in international activities leads to enhanced reputation and increased user base
Improved funding prospects
Facilitated interactions and data exchange with other members
Demonstrate the data center’s commitment to open science
Be seen as a trustworthy scientific data service
Improve practices and processes

3. Current membership
The WDS currently boasts 64 Regular Members, 10 Network Members, 6 Partner Members, and 18 Associate Members
Thematically: Membership representation is strong in the Earth sciences, but weaker in other areas such as biodiversity, health and the social sciences
Regionally: Membership representation is relatively strong in North America, Europe, and East Asia, but weaker in Africa, Latin America, and South and South-East Asia

4. Geographic distribution of members
SC member: Alfredo Tolmasquim, Scientific Director of the Museum of Tomorrow, and Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences, History of Science Coordination, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
SC member: Arona Diedhiou, Research Director at Institute of Research for Development (IRD) and Laboratoire d’Etude des Transferts en Hydrologie et Environnement (LTHE), University of Grenoble-Alpes, France. Laboratoire de Physique de l'Atmophère et Mécanique des fluides, Université Félix Houphouet Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

5. Promoting WDS membership
In the future, workshops will be held to coincide with WDS SC meetings
This will allow WDS to reach out to data center managers from under- represented regions and disciplines to get to know the WDS and the SC
We welcome your assistance in promoting WDS membership
What can we offer?
Information for new members at wds.org/community/membership/organization/why-join-wds
A five-slide Powerpoint presentation and two-page flier describing the benefits of membership
The SC sub-committee on new membership stands prepared to work with you!
Please contact me at or the to request assistance