Establish earth observation technology capacity for the South African Exclusive Economic Zone as well as the extended continental shelf;
The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) and the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) have initiated the development of the National Oceans and Coastal Information Management System (OCIMS) for South Africa – referred to as the OCIMS project.
The OCIMS project forms part of the Operation Phakisa Marine Protection Services and Oceans Governance workstream Initiative 6: “National Ocean and Coastal Information System and Extending Earth Observation Capability” action plan that is endorsed by Cabinet. Operation Phakisa focuses on unlocking the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans.
OCIMS will support a variety of oceans and coastal initiatives by providing information and decision support to key stakeholders for the day-to-day management of South Africa’s oceans and coasts.
The OCIMS 2019/2020 project outcomes are:
The project outcomes will be achieved through the development of an Information Management System (IMS) that will integrate current and future oceans and coastal systems, information and expertise into a user-friendly and cost-effective IMS for the benefit of relevant stakeholders. In June 2015, the Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) was nominated by DEFF as a service provider to facilitate the implementation of the project and to co-develop OCIMS.
OCIMS project vision
Develop a locally relevant and globally cognisant technological solution that supports the ecological conservation and economic potential of South Africa’s oceans and coasts through information and decision-support for effective governance.
In South Africa, 30% of the population stay within 60 km of our oceans. Many coastal communities are dependent on our oceans and coasts for their livelihood, while others reside there because of the lifestyle and recreational opportunities it offers. OCIMS will support the unlocking of the oceans economy through enhanced oceans and coastal management planning and decision support. This will also include integration of data collection, data processing, data analysis, reporting and alerting to effectively and efficiently identify, monitor and predict events and threats.
OCIMS Core
The OCIMS Core System harvests and references oceans and coastal data to make it discoverable, and when authorised, accessible to OCIMS users. Data is ingested, processed and visualised in the decision support tools where certain analytics provide the necessary information to support decision making and planning. Users can request access to protected data by contacting the data owners and/or custodians.
Decision Support Tools
OCIMS has a number of Decision Support Tools. The OCIMS project will continue to develop additional Decision Support Tools based on priority, maturity of existing tools and according to an agreed technology roadmap.
The National OCIMS is the result of collaborative partnerships led by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and managed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The project has drawn from the expertise of government, labour, business, academia and other sectors. It serves under the premise of Operation Phakisa a national government project.
