Oslo, 22 October 2019 – The Ocean Data Platform (ODP) was officially launched today in connection with the Our Ocean Conference in Oslo. This signals a major breakthrough in collecting and connecting ocean data for the public, industry, science and governments.
Bjørn Tore Markussen, the CEO of the Ocean Data Foundation, says: “Today we see that ocean data is often stored away in silos or is difficult to access for various reasons. By giving business, science, industry and the public unique access to this vast amount of information and inviting them to share their relevant data, we will be in a much better position to both preserve and maximise the natural wealth of the ocean.”
One of the biggest challenges facing global marine research is a lack of knowledge. There exists a number of smaller, but essential data initiatives and platforms in the world today, but no all-encompassing platform unifying them. The Ocean Data Platform is an initiative to change this, developed and operated by the supporting management company – the Ocean Data Foundation (ODF).
ODP will break down the walls between different data sources and contextualise the information in a common format. The information will be collected from a global network of public and private partners, creating a central knowledge hub that combines data from specialized databases. This is being fueled by powerful and proven Cognite Data Fusion.
The data will be publicly available, giving anyone who is passionate about solving the challenges facing the ocean the ability to create analytics services, applications and visualizations.
The goal is to improve availability, access and analysis of global ocean data, strengthen the conservation of ocean resources, furthering governance policies, research and creating sustainable business opportunities for the blue economy.
Ambassador Peter Thomson, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean and Co-Chair of Friends of Ocean Action, says: “The clock is ticking on our collective responsibility to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and central to SDG 14 for a healthy ocean is the need to increase scientific knowledge and marine research capacity. Opening the bulk of ocean data, and making it available in a user-friendly, standardized and interoperable format, is a must for sustainable use of the ocean. The Ocean Data Foundation will be a key contributor to making this happen. Friends of Ocean Action has been working with REV Ocean to bring an ocean data platform to fruition, and I am excited to see it coming to life. This is excellent timing ahead of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for us to improve knowledge and understanding of the ocean – to give it the best chance of reaching a state of health, abundance and sustainable use.”
The platform’s development is coordinated with REV Ocean and Cognite. REV Ocean is a not-for-profit company created with one overarching purpose and ambition: To make the ocean healthy again. The core science programme of REV Ocean focusses on plastic pollution, climate change and unsustainable fishing.
The technology company Cognite is a leading provider of structured and contextualized data that allows asset-intensive industries to gain value from digitalization. The ODP will be supervised by an international advisory board.
Nina Jensen, CEO of REV Ocean, says: “The Ocean Data Platform will provide valuable knowledge of ocean challenges, opportunities and mysteries, and be central to ensuring one healthy ocean, which is our overarching mission”.
Dr. John Markus Lervik, CEO of Cognite, says: “ODP, launched by the Ocean Data Foundation which is a key partner in C4IR Norway, will be the most ambitious and innovative use of data for increasing ocean sustainability. It will be a global, unifying platform that will enable unbiased research and facilitate a data-driven debate, leading to better decision-making about how best to conserve and use ocean resources.”
In the short term, the platform will work to sign lighthouse partners that we can learn from, grow with and deliver value to. Partnership agreements have been signed with The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Sintef Ocean and WWF.