During the first 18 months of the RCN, FAIR METS data model recommendations generated from the Consensus Building Workshop (the first RCN activit) will be vetted with the broader METS community during an open comment period and then developed into a peer-reviewed publication in an open access journal. All METS data standards and best practices will also be compiled in the Ocean Best Practices system. BCO-DMO will work with the METS Data Working Group to build and iterate on a METS community data model with members of the RCN.

The regional user networks initiated as part of the Broadening Data Users RCN activity will broaden METS data applications and serve as a model of regional engagement for other METS. Based on use cases developed at this workshop, METS data technician L. Fujieki (HOT) will develop draft data interface tools to facilitate broader METS data applications that can be tested by workshop participants and the broader community before being implemented by other METS user networks. This expanded METS user community and "toolbox" will greatly increase the impact and applications of METS data.

The METS Data Hackathon will foster new collaborations and development of new tools for analyzing and visualizing METS data. Participant interaction will facilitate the compilation of open source code to streamline the assimilation of METS data into ocean and earth system models. All new tools and code repositories will be shared broadly and submitted to the EarthCube Resource Registry.