D3.2 Report on pilot activities relevant to shared facilities

The EuroGO-SHIP project aims to establish a European Research Infrastructure (RI) for hydrography, which is essential for understanding the ocean's role in climate, ecosystems, and human activities. However, the current hydrographic observation system in Europe is fragmented, inefficient, and insufficient to meet the growing demands of science and society. Therefore, there is a need for a coordinated, harmonized, and sustainable RI that can provide high-quality, reliable, and interoperable hydrographic data and related services to theEuropean and global community. The EuroGO-SHIP project has four main objectives:• To develop a governance and business model for the European RI for ship-based hydrography;• To design and implement shared facilities and services that can enhance the efficiency and quality of hydrographic and other ship-based observations;• To demonstrate the principles and operations of the European RI for hydrography through pilot activities;• To engage and network with relevant stakeholders and users of hydrographic data andrelated services. This deliverable, D3.2, reports on the pilot activities relevant to shared facilities, which are one of the key components of the European RI for hydrography. Shared facilities are resources and capabilities that can be accessed and used by the network of hydrographic observers, such as specialized analyses, reference materials (RM), training, software, best practices, and equipment pool. The purpose of this deliverable is to present and evaluate the results of the pilot activities that have been carried out within Work Package 3 (WP3) to test and demonstrate the shared facilities concept and its benefits for the hydrographic community.