Task 9.2

Community of users in JERICO-RI: Analysis of Users and usage strategy

M1-36 (Lead: EuroGOOS, Co-lead: SOCIB; partners: see subtask)

The User community includes stakeholders as key external users as well as internal ones at various distances from the RI, such as scientists, regional or local funding bodies as well as national ones, private companies, industries, citizens, etc. The purpose of this task is to identify and gather users in a formal User Committee (T9.2.1), assess their needs versus the currently offered services in JERICO-S3 (T9.2.2) in order to set up a vision that addresses user needs for a future sustainable JERICO-RI (D9.2). This task is organised in 2 subtasks.

Subtask 9.2.1: Mapping of users of JERICO-RI and of their needs (EuroGOOS, SOCIB, AZTI), RBINS).

Identification and mapping of users will be built upon the JERICO-NEXT User Panel. As WP1 fosters interaction at region and local levels with PSSs and IRSs, Subtask 9.2.1 will dedicate efforts to work with representatives of national RIs. It will also enlarge the user spectrum by interacting with other marine observation initiatives (interaction with WP2).  This action will kick off during the 1st ARW and will result with the formal set up of the JERICO-User Committee in month 6. The User Committee will meet in plenary on a yearly basis (and more frequently as virtual meeting) to express their expectations versus the offered services (to be reported in MS9.1). As a next step, assessing the offered services versus the needed ones is necessary to establish the business plan of JERICO-RI but also to analyse users’ interests and needs versus their power.

The JERICO-User Committee will be consulted to give feedback on services delivered by JERICO-RI at the hardware level that will partially be based on JERICO-RI TNA experiences (since JERICO-FP7, 2011), and at the virtual level that includes services access in the e-JERICO-RI initiated in the prototype phase in JERICO-S3 (task 8.2).This will include assessing how products and expertise services offered by the JERICO-RI consortium are tailored towards User needs: knowhow and knowledge gathered in a virtual library of protocols, practices and computing codes, and offered computing facilities (i.e., for data processing). Feedback after training workshops led in WP10 to transfer the JERICO-RI expertise and to sustain its excellence will be also considered. User requirements will be gathered in D1.1 (M18).

Subtask 9.2.2: User Analysis for a user strategy: Currently offered services versus needed ones SOCIB, Ifremer, IRB/NIVA (WP3))

User interests and needs can vary from a basic level (e.g., collection and use of information) to a more involved level (e.g., participating and guiding in due process). with or without staff and financial resources  The political power of various user groups may also influence decision-making and implementation that may or may not align with the evolving goal of JERICO-RI. A first action will be dedicated to analyse feedbacks of the User committee and establish user profiles (need vs power at local, region or national levels) (Ifremer). The User committee’s feedback will be analysed according to the PEST(EL) method to consider the Political, Economic, Societal, and Technological trends, as well as Environmental and Legal ones, which are reflecting the user’s environments. An outcome of this activity will be a user classification in different profiles and will present the “big picture” forces of change that JERICO-RI is exposed to, and use this to take advantage of the opportunities that they present, at the national and EU level (Deliverable D9.1). The next action (SOCIB) will establish the User strategy based on the classification of user profiles and their needs versus the currently offered services (ref. previous activities). The most suitable engagement strategies will be assessed including direct engagement with an active participation and education with dissemination of information, and reported in D9.2 (M36).

Deliverables

Task 9.2: D9.1: User requirement and classification (M18)

Task 9.2: D9.2: User engagement strategy plan + metric to assess user satisfaction/expectations (M36)