We are delighted to announce the start of Dialogues with Industry – a forum for compact and meaningful dialogue with new and established companies, academia and government. The dialogue series aims to highlight opportunities for the public and private sectors to work in partnership towards achieving a mature, vibrant ocean observing enterprise that will help accelerate the development of a thriving blue economy.
The ocean is an integral part of the economies of many nations, providing food security and livelihoods for billions of people. However, the full potential of the ocean economy – or the blue economy – is yet to be unleashed, and to do that it is essential to understand the physical, chemical and biological processes that drive ocean productivity and signal ocean changes. Sustained ocean observations are key to this understanding, but our current observing system is still in critical need of expansion.
The value of ocean information is becoming widely recognized, and the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development(‘the Ocean Decade’) acknowledges the need for an expanded Global Ocean Observing System as one of its 10 major challenges. However, currently, most funding for ocean observations comes from ocean science research budgets at national, regional or local levels.
If we are to meet the innovation challenges of observing and delivering an expanded level of ocean information, reliance on science budgets will not be sufficient. We need partnerships and expertise from the private sector along each step of the ocean information value chain: from sensors, platforms, and other observing technologies, encompassing field operations and the taking of observations, as well as those developing and delivering ocean information services to users. Cooperation between the public and private sector can evolve a thriving ocean observing enterprise and blue economy, benefiting business, government and society.
Learn more about the market drivers and opportunities across all parts of the ocean information value chain in our Background paper.
To start the discussion about meeting these challenges, Dialogues with Industry will bring together the public and private sectors during 4 dialogues – in the form of facilitated discussions – which will cover topics such as instrument provision, multi-sectoral ocean architecture, user driven ocean information services and new technology for the Ocean Decade. The Dialogues will result in actionable recommendations on how the commercial, government, and scientific sectors can deploy the next generation Global Ocean Observing System to meet the needs of the blue economy.
“To meet societal needs in this crucial Ocean Decade, we need an active and vibrant dialogue between industry, academia and government” says Emma Heslop, the Acting Office Director of GOOS. “Our Dialogues will support industry participation in the ocean observing enterprise and seek to find ways for working together to solve our common problems faster.”
The first online session of Dialogues with Industry will take place on 14 of September, 2022, and will be followed by the remaining three sessions every month. We invite interested individuals to register to the dialogues of their choice and add their voice to the conversation!
Dialogue 1: 14 September, 2022 REGISTRATION
Dialogue 2: 13 October, 2022 REGISTRATION
Dialogue 3: 7 December, 2022 REGISTRATION
Dialogue 4: 11 January, 2023 REGISTRATION
The Dialogues have been developed through cooperation between the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) – a programme led by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), Marine Technology Society (MTS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and industry partners.
More information:
Dialogues with Industry webpage
Background paper