Research project P4S/251/B-DOCK (Research action P4S)
The B-DOCK project aims to modernize and harmonize the data infrastructure of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), focusing on the oceanographic data collections managed by the Belgian Marine Data Centre (BMDC). In alignment with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and the Belgian Federal Open Science Cloud (FedOSC), B-DOCK supports the development of a FAIR-compliant, cross-domain data ecosystem to ensure long-term preservation, discoverability, and reuse of RBINS’s digital scientific collections.
The first objective is to develop a strategic roadmap for federated data management across RBINS.
Building on initiatives such as FedOSC and the DaVinci project, and in collaboration with internal stakeholders, the roadmap will align decentralized systems through common standards and workflows. It will be shaped by three use cases: BMDC’s infrastructure, the DNA Labbook (supporting eDNA and taxonomic workflows), and the RBINS Scientific Publication Service. These examples will help identify integration paths that enhance FAIR compliance, internal coordination, and cross-disciplinary reuse.
The second objective is to implement key elements of the roadmap through a full upgrade of BMDC’s infrastructure. This includes modernizing the Integrated Dynamic Oceanographic Database (IDOD) and the Data Inventory and Tracking System (DITS) using harmonized schemas, controlled vocabularies, and AI-assisted quality control. BMDC’s current infrastructure is no longer adequate to meet the needs for data access, validation, and interoperability. B-DOCK will fill this gap by improving data ingestion, curation, and dissemination processes, strengthening RBINS’s contribution to national and international environmental assessments.
The biodiversity module of IDOD will be expanded to include underrepresented datasets such as offshore wind farm monitoring and eDNA, including data collected from the RV Belgica. Interoperability with external platforms (e.g., SeaDataNet, EMODnet, OBIS, GBIF, and potentially GenBank, ENA, BOLD) will be ensured through community standards (ISO 19115, DCAT-AP) and semantic technologies (e.g., JSON-LD), supporting long-term data reuse.
The third objective is to create a dedicated interoperability layer using open standards and formats (OpenAPI, OGC API, JSON, GeoJSON, CSV). This will enable automated, machine-actionable data exchange across RBINS systems and with external infrastructures. It will also support semantic enrichment, transparent linked data, and integration with EOSC and Digital Twins of the Ocean. The fourth objective is to improve data exposition through a new user-friendly data portal. The portal will provide lightweight tools for visualization and dissemination, supporting data access for researchers, policymakers, and the public. It will also facilitate regulatory reporting (e.g., MSFD, OSPAR) and strengthen links with national and international infrastructures.
B-DOCK will also invest in dissemination and valorisation, targeting institutional stakeholders, scientists, and the wider public through workshops, citizen science initiatives, and open platforms such as GitHub and ResearchGate. These activities will promote transparency, trust, and data reuse.
Ultimately, B-DOCK lays the groundwork for a sustainable and modern data infrastructure at RBINS that supports its mission as Belgium’s National Oceanographic Data Centre. By exposing high-quality, linked datasets, the project enables advanced reuse—including AI-driven analysis and ensures RBINS’s collections remain accessible and relevant into the future.
While RBINS has built strong data expertise within its departments, a fully unified institutional data policy is still evolving. B-DOCK contributes directly to this process by offering a coordinated framework that supports internal integration and aligns RBINS with national and European open science strategies.
