Co-operation Details

ETDE is a multilateral organization formed in 1987 to further international information exchange. It is a group of countries/entities who have chosen to co-operate to meet a key information need in a more cost-effective way. ETDE is considered an Implementing Agreement under the International Energy Agency (IEA) Framework for Technology Co-operation structure.

The ETDE World Energy Database, or ETDEWEB is ETDE’s primary ‘product’. ETDEWEB is unique as well as time- and money-saving. What makes ETDEWEB special?

Energy scope: Information on the entire cycle of all energy sources, including environmental and climatic impact
Publication depth: Very specific technical details/findings to policy papers to technology overviews/assessments to brochures/some fact sheets
Publication selection: Member countries select the energy publications/resources/collections to be included
Reference and full text: Collection of searchable references and digitized full text of current and historical research results to trace developments and avoid repeating research
Publication range: Mixture of publication/resource types: research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, theses, etc., and more recently, multimedia such as videos
Database volume: Largest collection of energy research and technology literature in the world. At last count, approximately references, of which ETDEWEB has the full text on site, ready for viewing/downloading

The ETDE Implementing Agreement serves as a legal basis for the collaboration. ETDE's objectives are:

To compile and maintain a shared database on information related to energy research and technology.
To disseminate information related to energy research and technology.
To explore, and where appropriate develop, other ways of collecting and disseminating information related to energy research and technology.
To support the work of the International Energy Agency.

ETDE is managed on a day to day basis by an entity that serves as Operating Agent (OA). The OA is guided by an Executive Committee made up of delegates from each participating country. The Executive Committee is lead by a Chairperson, and two Vice-Chairs. A Technical Working Group, also made up of delegates from each country, provides advice and recommendations on the technical aspects of the exchange.

The following delegates hold the Chair/Vice Chair positions for the June 2012-June 2015 term:

Chairman: Mr. Brian Hitson, U.S.
Vice-Chair: Mr. Hillebrand Verkroost, The Netherlands
Vice-Chair: Ms. Silke Rehme, Germany (this position also serves as Chairman of the ETDE Technical Working Group)

Silke Rehme, Brian Hitson, and Hillebrand Verkroost on the
occasion of ETDE's 34th Executive Committee meeting in
Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2012

A Note from ETDE's Chair:

ETDE's member countries have demonstrated a genuine commitment to addressing energy, environment, and climate change challenges. This commitment is in the form of mutual sharing and opening of their energy research, technology, and development (RTD) information to accelerate breakthroughs and improvements. The members have also demonstrated their commitment to the developing world by extending access to ETDEWEB's over 4.6 million records to nearly 100 "low" and "lower-middle" income economies. We invite both nations and partner sponsors to join in the benefits and the task of building on the world's largest energy RTD information collection.

ETDE's Executive Committee meets annually to discuss policy, budget, operational and technical issues. The Technical Working Group meets every other year to discuss details related to information exchange and database-related topics. Both groups also have discussions and make decisions in an electronic environment throughout the year.

Members (also known as Contracting Parties) participate on a cost- and task-sharing basis. An annual fee is required to fund basic operations of ETDE. Each member is also asked to ensure that the energy-related information published within its borders is provided as input into ETDE's Energy Database, and thus available to members and approved non-members through ETDEWEB and other available sources. Members are also highly encouraged to attend Executive Committee and Technical Working Group meetings and participate actively in electronic discussions.

The Operating Agent for ETDE is the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information in Oak Ridge, TN, USA. The Operating Agent handles the daily tasks for ETDE. Some of the major functions include:

Receiving and processing database input and full text from member countries and other sources
Implementing Executive Committee decisions
Facilitating projects of the Technical Working Group
Preparing budgets, reports, statistics, meeting papers, websites and some marketing materials
Serving as a liaison with other collaborating partners
Providing member support and training
Maintaining ETDEWEB, distributed searching, and key authority tools

History of ETDE's milestones.

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http://www.etde.org/