Data request response policy 2020-12

Created: 2020-12-04

OTNDC Data Request Response Policy

This document is meant as a guide for OTN data team members when responding to data requests from individuals and groups both internal and external to OTN.

Types of requests:

Data requests are submitted to OTNDC in a variety of ways, these include in person, via direct message in a slack conversation, and via email.  Each type of request needs to be handled in a similar way, regardless of the individual requesting or the method.

Documenting:

Data requests need to be documented, the method of documentation will be a Gitlab issue, a template is available here.  Data requests should be documented only in the OTN-Daq project, for ease of reviewing all requests, and marked with the label “Data Request”.

Approval:

Necessary approval will be based on the complexity and type of request. Not every data request requires approval beyond the team member who was contacted, however; care should be taken when contacted directly, as details about the circumstances may be known only to other team members. If in doubt, the Director of Data Operations should be contacted for advice/approval.

Reporting:

Data requests that require more than 1hr, for example a custom data product, need to be captured as a KPI. Until the data request is completed, it should be tracked in the initial Gitlab issue. Once completed, the request should be logged in Podio as a new entry in Data Management - Data Sharing Requests - https://podio.com/ocean-tracking-network-new/data-management/apps/data-product-requests .

Gitlab tools (/estimate /spend) need to be used to keep track of the effort for each request.

Internal Requests:

When managing internal requests, it is important to remember that while all OTN staff should be familiar with the OTN data policy, this may not be the case. All data sharing requests must adhere to the OTN data policy, as well as node-specific data sharing policies where applicable. We need to track requests from all sources, this includes the Glider and Field teams too, so we can have a record of who knows what, and be able to remind them of our policies officially.

Exceptions:

The data request policy has exceptions which include, but are not limited to very broad summary stats for internal reporting (ie. for secretariat meetings). These rare exceptions are at the explicit approval of the Director of Data Operations.