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Producing new generation of digital public services from open data is of major interest to policymakers, practitioners and academia in the digital government community. Recent efforts in the area of Linked Statistical Data suggest that the associated multidimensional data cubes are excellent resources that could underpin data-driven digital public services. We describe in this paper a set of tools and approach to exploiting linked statistical data produced from the integration of streams of open marine datasets for developing digital services to support Marine Rescue Operations. We also highlight the opportunities enabled through co-creation activities as well as the benefit and challenges for scaling and sustaining the initiative.

The article analyses the development of Search and Rescue (SAR) Operations in the Central Mediterranean by NGOs as a controversial but efficient practice and aims to discuss its impact on states' and EU performances in coping with the migrant and refugee crisis. Using empirical data provided by the Italian Coast Guard from 2014 to 2018, it focuses on these questions: Are non-governmental SAR operations at sea becoming a civilian practice to be associated with governmental ones? Can the consolidation of such practice impact (complement) governmental and intergovernmental policies? It is divided into three parts. First, civil society organizations, and specifically NGOs, are analysed within the theoretical studies on migration, to stress their roles and approaches and to understand their relevance. Second, the recent use of SAR operations at sea by NGOs to rescue people in the Mediterranean are discussed as a complementary tool to governmental one. Their potentiality to become more than a temporary solution and instead to constitute an innovative and consolidated practice of 'non-governmental SAR operations' is assessed. Last, empirical data are used to evaluate the perception of such practice and to discuss its political and social legitimation.

In contrast with the world's other migratory routes, the Mediterranean is the one where more migrants die or disappear in their attempt to reach Europe's coasts. Although different international instruments refer to the obligation of States and the captains of vessels to provide assistance to anyone who is in distress at sea, the truth is that there has been a progressive reduction in search and rescue operations by the European Union and its Member States. Faced with this inaction, various NGOs dedicated to humanitarian aid have deployed vessels in the Mediterranean in order to search for and rescue migrants in distress at sea. NGOs have come to play an important role in assisting migrants, although they have encountered substantial hostility on the part of certain States, which regard these NGOs as acting as accomplices in illegal migrant smuggling. Through an analysis of different measures by certain States to deter NGOs engaged in rescue operations in the Mediterranean and the current regulatory framework for combatting illegal immigration, this article aims to assess whether these humanitarian organizations can be considered to have been wrongly criminalized and what the consequences are from the perspective of the observance of human rights. ; Operaciones de búsqueda y rescate de migrantes en el Mediterráneo por Organizaciones Humanitarias: ¿Contrabando de migrantes o asistencia humanitaria? La ruta mediterránea es, con diferencia respecto del resto de rutas migratorias del mundo, donde más migrantes mueren o desaparecen en el intento de llegar a las costas europeas. Si bien distintos instrumentos internacionales aluden a la obligación de los Estados y de los capitanes de los buques de prestar auxilio a toda persona que se encuentre en peligro en el mar, lo cierto es que ha habido una reducción progresiva de las operaciones de búsqueda y salvamento operadas por la Unión Europea y sus Estados miembros. Ante esta inacción, distintas ONG dedicadas a la asistencia humanitaria han desplegado buques en el Mediterráneo con el objetivo de buscar y rescatar en el mar a los migrantes que se encuentren en dificultades. Las ONG han adquirido una papel muy relevante en labores de asistencia a migrantes, si bien han tenido que hacer frente a una hostilidad muy importante por parte de determinados Estados al considerarlas cómplices del tráfico ilegal de migrantes. El objetivo de este estudio es, a partir del análisis de las distintas medidas adoptadas por determinados Estados contra ONG dedicadas a operaciones de rescate en el Mediterráneo y teniendo en cuenta el actual marco normativo en materia de lucha contra la inmigración ilegal, valorar si se puede considerar que se criminaliza de forma incorrecta la labor realizada por dichas organizaciones y las consecuencias que ello tiene desde la perspectiva de la observancia de los derechos humanos. ; Opérations de recherche et de sauvetage de migrants en Méditerranée par les Organisations humanitaires: Contrebande de migrants ou assistance humanitaire? La route méditerranéenne est, à la différence du reste des routes migratoires dans le monde, où davantage de migrants meurent ou disparaissent dans la tentative d'atteindre les côtes européennes. Bien que différents instruments internationaux se réfèrent à l'obligation des États et des capitaines de navires de prêter assistance à toute personne en danger en mer, la vérité est qu'il y a eu une réduction progressive des opérations de recherche et de sauvetage géré par l'Union européenne et ses États membres. Face à cette inaction, différentes ONG dédiées à l'aide humanitaire ont déployé des navires en Méditerranée dans le but de rechercher et de secourir des migrants en difficulté en mer. Les ONG ont acquis un rôle très pertinent dans l'assistance aux migrants, même si elles ont dû faire face à une hostilité très importante de la part de certains États lorsqu'elles les considèrent comme complices du trafic illégal de migrants. L'objectif de cette étude est, à partir de l'analyse des différentes mesures adoptées par certains Etats contre les ONG dédiées aux opérations de sauvetage en Méditerranée et compte tenu du cadre réglementaire actuel de la lutte contre l'immigration clandestine, d'évaluer s'il est possible d'envisager que le travail effectué par ces organisations est à tort criminalisé et les conséquences que cela a du point de vue du respect des droits de l'homme.

[eng] In contrast with the world's other migratory routes, the Mediterranean is the one where more migrants die or disappear in their attempt to reach Europe's coasts. Although different international instruments refer to the obligation of States and the captains of vessels to provide assistance to anyone who is in distress at sea, the truth is that there has been a progressive reduction in search and rescue operations by the European Union and its Member States. Faced with this inaction, various NGOs dedicated to humanitarian aid have deployed vessels in the Mediterranean in order to search for and rescue migrants in distress at sea. NGOs have come to play an important role in assisting migrants, although they have encountered substantial hostility on the part of certain States, which regard these NGOs as acting as accomplices in illegal migrant smuggling. Through an analysis of different measures by certain States to deter NGOs engaged in rescue operations in the Mediterranean and the current regulatory framework for combatting illegal immigration, this article aims to assess whether these humanitarian organizations can be considered to have been wrongly criminalized and what the consequences are from the perspective of the observance of human rights.