OUTCOME OF THE SIXTH MEETING OF THE HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICES AND STANDARDS COMMITTEE (HSSC)

IHB File N° S3/8151/HSSC CIRCULAR LETTER 07/2015 16 January 2015 OUTCOME OF THE SIXTH MEETING OF THE HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICES AND STANDARDS COMMITTEE (HSSC) References: A. IHO CL 48/2014 dated 20 June - Hydrographic Services and Standards Committee (HSSC) - 6th Meeting, 11-14 November 2014, Viña del Mar, Chile B. IHO CL 75/2014 dated 26 November - Approval of the draft revised edition 1.2.0 of the IHO Publication S-63 IHO Data Protection Scheme C. IHO CL 76/2014 dated 28 November - Re-Structuring of the Working Groups of the Hydrographic Services and Standards Committee (HSSC) D. IHO CL 77/2014 dated 28 November - Call for resourcing the function of S-100 Registry Manager E. IHO CL 08/2015 dated 16 January – Implementation of Edition 5.0.0 of the IHO Standard S-58 – ENC Validation Checks Dear Hydrographer, 1. As announced in Reference A, the sixth meeting of the Hydrographic Services and Standards Committee (HSSC) took place in Viña del Mar, Chile, hosted by the Chilean Navy Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (SHOA), from 11 to 14 November 2014. The meeting, chaired by Dr Mathias Jonas (Germany), was attended by 44 representatives, from 18 Member States, the IHB, and six international organizations accredited as observers. 2. The minutes of HSSC-6, together with the list of actions arising from the meeting and their current status, are now available on the HSSC page of the IHO website (www.iho.int > Committees & WG > HSSC), at section HSSC 6. The consolidated HSSC Work Plan 2015-2016 is also available on that page, in the Miscellaneous section. Actions requiring input from Member States 3. In accordance with the list of actions arising from HSSC-6, those actions that required early inputs from Member States in order to progress with the revised Edition 1.2.0 of the IHO Publication S-63 (Action HSSC6/22 refers), the re-structuring of the HSSC Working Groups (Action HSSC6/04 refers), the function of S-100 Registry Manager (Action HSSC6/18 refers) and the implementation of Edition 5.0.0 of the IHO Standard S-58 (Action HSSC6/14 refers) are addressed in separate IHO Circular Letters (see references B, C, D and E). -1- 4. The Directing Committee intends to issue two additional Circular Letters at a later stage. One will invite IHO Member States to provide their views on the scope, topics and work items, if any, to be addressed through the possible establishment of a Hydrographic Surveys Working Group (Minutes of HSSC-6, Section 4.2 and Action HSSC6/11 refer). Another Circular Letter is planned to seek approval of the amendments to the HSSC Terms of Reference (TORs) which will reflect that the Chair of ABLOS could designate a representative to report at HSSC meetings. The ABLOS TOR need to be amended first, and the Directing Committee will liaise with the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) to do so (Action HSSC6/35 refers). 5. Clause 3 of Decision No. 2 of the Fifth Extraordinary International Hydrographic Conference (EIHC-5) which states: “… The language(s) of other IHO reference documents, guidelines and standards shall be at least one of the official languages decided on a case by case basis in the IHO Work Programme, taking into account the strategic priorities of the IHO, the intended use of the document, the resources of the Bureau and the assistance offered by Member States.”, was reflected in the status report on IHO Publications considered by the HSSC. The Committee invited further comments by correspondence regarding the designation of next edition dates for publications under the purview of the HSSC and their availability in English/French/Spanish. Accordingly, Member States are invited to provide their comments to the IHB ([email protected]) on the status report of publications and standards regarding dates for next edition and possible requirements and contributions for translation into French and/or Spanish (Action HSSC6/39 refers). The status report on IHO Publications is available on the HSSC page of the IHO web site (Home > Committees & WG > HSSC > HSSC6 > HSSC6-10B rev1). Liaison with external stakeholders 6. The IHB will inform the external stakeholders of the outcomes affecting them and seek their input as appropriate. 7. HSSC reviewed the list of events that could offer opportunities to interact with stakeholders in 2015 and considered which events would justify the involvement of representatives from IHO Member States and/or from the IHB, taking into account the available resources. The list of potential stakeholders’ events is available on the HSSC page of the IHO web site (Home > Committees & WG > HSSC > HSSC6 > HSSC6-09A rev1). Member States are invited to liaise with the IHB if they are in a position to represent the IHO at those events where no participation is currently planned. Revision of the Terms of Reference of HSSC Working Groups 8. The Committee approved the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the following Working Groups (WG): - S-100 WG (S-100WG), - ENC Standards Maintenance WG (ENCWG), - Nautical Information Provision WG (NIPWG), - Tides, Water Level and Currents WG (TWCWG), - Generic Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure for HSSC Project Teams. The Committee also approved the transition arrangements to the new HSSC structure. The amended TORs have been posted on the HSSC page of the IHO web site for the time being (Home > Committees &WGS > HSSC > HSSC-6 > Post Meeting Documents: New HSSC WGs’ Terms of Reference). The new HSSC structure will be reflected in the layout of the HSSC section of the IHO website as soon as possible. -2- List of HSSC Contacts 9. The list of HSSC Contacts used for intersessional correspondence is maintained by the IHB and posted on the HSSC page of the IHO web site (Home > Committees & WG > HSSC > Members). Member States are requested to ensure that the relevant contact information is current and to inform the IHB ([email protected]) of any changes. Next HSSC Meetings 10. At the kind invitation of the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Administration (KHOA), the next HSSC meeting (HSSC-7) will be held from 9 to 13 November 2015, in Busan, Republic of Korea. 11. HSSC-8 is planned to be held in Monaco in 2016 and HSSC-9 in Canada in 2017. On behalf of the Directing Committee Yours sincerely, Gilles BESSERO Director -3-