There is a treasure trove of invaluable Arctic data and Inuit Knowledge in Canada which has been painstakingly collected over decades. However, much of this information is difficult to access and use because of the distributed nature of data archives, different data formats and technologies, and the sheer volume and variety of information.
The task of unlocking access to that data has fallen to Dr. Maribeth Murray, PhD, director of the Arctic Institute of North America, and the multi-institutional team of scientists and Inuit partners she’s co-ordinating through the Canadian Consortium for Arctic Data Interoperability (CCADI). The Arctic research data infrastructure project they have developed has recently earned support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
“Arctic data and information is located in many different repositories around Canada, from universities, to government agencies and Inuit organizations. Much of this is disconnected, and difficult to locate, access and use,” says Murray, who is the project lead for the CCADI.
“We’re building interoperability across our different institutional platforms using common standards and guidelines, developing new data visualization and analysis tools, and protocols for ethical access to and use of Inuit Knowledge. The goal is to improve data discovery and mobilization of data across a wide spectrum of research, Inuit, government and other end users to advance Arctic science and evidence-based decision making.”
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