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Part III. Appendix 4: User OutreachFigure 1. Recommended committees and advisorybodies (inside ovals) necessary for Ocean.US toimplement the end-to-end, user-driven ocean observingsystem.The users for the DMAC purposes are found at the Data Communications and Management andAnalysis Models and Data Requirements levels (Figure 1). People at these levels are either (1) datamanagement (IT) professionals trained primarily in computer science who are concerned withData Communications and Data Center (and Product) Management, or (2) other scientists whosedisciplines are data intensive (i.e., modelers) or who interface with other users (some scientists,some not) who need products based on the IOOS “data stream,” such as oil spill trajectories andmaps of natural hazards. One task of the Facilities Team is to work with outreach to the first category(IT professionals), whereas the User Outreach Team is primarily to be focused on the secondcategory (seven scientific and technical communities).METHODSMembers of the User Outreach team were selected for expertise in one of the seven communitiesdefined by the IOOS goals, as identified in each of the seven Community Issues sections. Thestarting point for the definition of user needs was the 2002 Airlie House workshop, where approximately100 national experts in the seven communities of IOOS met to define needs and prioritiesfor the U.S. observing system. Within each community issue, members were encouraged to consultwith as many other members of the community as possible, taking into account the short timeframe available for this portion of the planning process. Different methods were used by differentcommunity groups, so no standardized approach was applied to develop the community issueslists. Overall, due to the extensive use of the Internet, it is estimated that 1,500 to 2,000 concernedindividuals were contacted, informed of the IOOS needs, and given the opportunity to comment,across all seven communities. Nonetheless, the approach to development of user-based requirementsfor the data system is an iterative process, where broad sections of the concerned communitieswill have future opportunities to review and comment, and the lists will be broadened anddeepened as a consequence of this ongoing review process.226