The 2^nd VOICE (Variability of the Oxycline and its ImpaCt on the Ecosystem; http://www.ioccp.org/voice) Science Plan workshop took place on 8-9 September 2018 in Kiel, Germany, in conjunction with the International Conference on 'Ocean Deoxygenation: Drivers and Consequences – Past, Present and Future', held on 3-7 September 2018. The main point on the meeting agenda was to perform the readiness level assessment based on information collected from the various Oxygen Minimum Zone demonstration regions all over the world. During the meeting, we reviewed the results of analysing the answers to spreadsheet questionnaires that were distributed among the VOICE regional champions in order to collect information on current status and gaps in requirement setting, observing capacity and data and information product management. The main outcome of this workshop will be the submission of VOICE Community White Paper in response to an invitation from the OceanObs'19 Conference Program Committee. IOCCP SSG member Véronique Garçon is a Co-Chair of VOICE, and IOCCP Project Office is providing support for this international initiative. To learn more about VOICE, please see our page dedicated to this project: http://www.ioccp.org/voice.