The Third Polar Data Forum (PDF III) will be hosted by the Finnish Meteorological Institute at thair Dynamicum campus in Helsinki from November 18th to 22nd, 2019. PDF III will be a two day conference style meeting in support of information exchange, with the remainder of the week using a “hackathon” approach that will build on the development work done in previous meetings. More information is available on the conference website: https://polar-data-forum.org/

Posters and presentations will be accepted on a wide variety of data, information and knowledge related issues. Abstracts will be reviewed primarily for their relevance or connection to the polar regions and polar activities. While talks or posters on general topics will be considered, priority will be given to abstracts focused on experiences, research, operations, projects, programs or topics that take place in or are about the polar regions. Of particular interest are talks that report on how broader, regional, disciplinary or global standards, protocols and methodologies are, or could be applied, to the polar domain (e.g. how does your polar work link to broader efforts to make data FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). In keeping with past community events, we see the polar data system as part of the broader global system.

Themes of interest include:

Polar community and network building
Data discovery and federated search
All aspects of data interoperability (syntactical, structural, semantic, social)
Standards and protocols to improve data access
Analysis of user needs
Enabling data reuse for multiple audiences
Ethical utilization of data derived from Indigenous knowledge and community based monitoring
Data management for polar social science and humanities
Cloud computing and other advanced analytical methods and platforms (i.e. machine learning, AI)
Sensor webs and observing systems
Critical studies on polar data management (e.g. Science and Technology Studies)
Recognition and attribution in data systems
Data management for major projects (e.g. Southern Ocean Observing System, MOSAiC, Arctic Supersites etc.)
Data policy
Other themes related to polar data broadly defined (i.e. including information and knowledge)

The abstract submission deadline is August 16, 2019 and the forum registration deadline October 18, 2019. Full information and a link to the abstract submission system are available on the PDF III website: https://polar-data-forum.org/

PDF III will be co-organized with regional partners including the INTAROS project in conjunction with the EU Arctic Cluster, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and other European organizations. The Forum will be co-convened by the IASC-SAON Arctic Data Committee, Southern Ocean Observing System, Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management, the World Data System and other organizations engaged in polar data management.

Kind regards,

Peter Pulsifer, on behalf of the Steering and Organizing Committees of the Third Polar Data Forum