This has been an exciting year for ICSU-WDS, with not only
the appointment of a new Scientific Committee (WDS-SC)
but also the renewal of the agreement between ICSU and
the National Institute of Information and Communications
Technology for the latter to host the WDS International
Programme Office for a further five years.
The third WDS-SC was appointed in July 2015 for a threeyear
period, with Prof Sandy Harrison agreeing to be the new
SC Chair until 2017. Two further members joined in December
to give a full contingent including nine new members. One of
the first tasks of the new WDS-SC was to adopt a set of Data
Sharing Principles to advance WDS goals and to embody the
spirit of Open Science.
The WDS Publishing Data and Certification Working Groups
(WGs) presented their final outputs at the Sixth and Seventh
Plenary Meetings of the Research Data Alliance, some of
which will be taken forward by the Global Science Forum of
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
An outcome of major significance from the Publishing Data
WGs was the Open and Universal Data–Literature Interlinking
Service—a freely accessible, web-based service that enables
users to identify associations between datasets and articles.
Furthermore, the Common Requirements and Procedures
developed by the Certification WG will be adopted by ICSUWDS
and the Data Seal of Approval over the coming year.
ICSU-WDS co-organized two events in 2015. A joint
Workshop with the Scientific Committee on Solar–Terrestrial
Physics resulted in the signing of a Letter of Agreement
between the two organizations; while over 110 data managers,
scientists, funders, and indigenous people gathered at the
Second International Polar Data Forum to look at maximizing
the value of polar data in solving global challenges. The
WDS Webinar series also continued with aplomb, building
its reputation through five high-calibre presentations given by
leading experts.
Finally, our congratulations go out to Dr Yaxing Wei, who was
selected by the WDS-SC as the winner of the WDS Data
Stewardship Award for 2015. | 
