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Articles

Number 5 (2011)

The Transformation of Shom

Submitted
August 13, 2013
Published
2011-01-01

Abstract

Heir to the first national hydrographic office in the world created in 1720 as a support service within the French Navy, the French Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (SHOM) was turned in 2007 into an autonomous public establishment under the custodianship of the Defence Minister. This article reviews the preparation and the implementation of the transformation and evaluates the results at the completion of the three year mandate of the first Director General of the new SHOM. Although the regulatory framework may vary from country to country, the governance model seems well tuned to the stakes that national hydrographic offices must face.