An institutional analysis and development perspective of Taiwan’s oceanographic data management: an orderly chaos

Using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, this research evaluates Taiwan’s oceanographic data management and identifies issues for the prospect of its development. Six databanks were interviewed. Taiwan’s oceanographic data management remains in an orderly chaos. On one hand, it is chaotic because there exist multiple actors with their own data management rules. The fact that these databanks enact their own data management rules and operate accordingly makes the whole context even more fragmented. Therefore, community attributes are a mixture of open data and limited free data usage because revenues of data processing can cover costs of bureaucratic operation and cybersecurity measures. On the other hand, it is orderly because all databanks view open data as a public good while recognizing the importance of data management. The UN initiative of Ocean Decade serves as a strong impetus in advancing Taiwan’s oceanographic data management. Given the situation, it is debated whether integrating oceanographic data and marine-related information to one single databank, National Ocean Database and Sharing System (NODASS) positioned under Ocean Affairs Council (OAC), is economically efficient. OAC also lacks a set of reward-and-punishment rules to enforce data submission to NODASS. Meanwhile, it is also debated whether OAC should be restructured as a ministry and enact a set of generally followed rules of data management. To further develop data management and facilitate data exchange with the international oceanography community, OAC will need to cultivate professional capability while enhancing inter-agency policy coordination.