About Ocean Enterprise Initiative

What is the Ocean Enterprise Initiative?

A Collaborative Initiative

The Ocean Enterprise Initiative grew from the successful Dialogues with Industry. This collaboration brought together MTS, GOOS, NOAA, and industry leaders like Kongsberg Discovery and L3Harris. Their shared goal was to strengthen ocean observation and technology development.

The initiative was designed to implement key recommendations from the Dialogues with Industry Roadmap. This roadmap outlined strategies to advance the Ocean Enterprise and expand industry opportunities.

Today, the initiative continues to thrive with strong support from its founding partners. Through ongoing collaboration, it drives innovation and long-term growth in the ocean technology sector.

Mission Statement

Grow the ocean observing system through better public-private partnerships by creating a globally inclusive forum to understand market opportunities, incentivize ocean solution innovation, facilitate data and information exchange, develop a workforce, and proliferate scalable technology to achieve benefits for all stakeholders of the Ocean Enterprise.

Vision Statement

A flourishing Ocean Enterprise that is recognized as an integral market sector, grows a sustained ocean observing system, and changes the perception of ocean information from peripheral to essential to society.

Program Background

The Dialogues with Industry, held between September 2022 and January 2023, brought together experts from science, government, and industry to discuss barriers and opportunities for: strengthening public-private partnerships; expanding capacity for ocean data collection; and improving collaboration across sectors

Historically, ocean observing has been driven by government-funded research, leading to a fragmented value chain. However, increasing societal demands for ocean data necessitate rapid expansion of the Ocean Enterprise. Market immaturity slows technological growth and increases costs, while the role of commercial ocean observing services remains unclear alongside government and research efforts.

To meet the urgent need for ocean data, the Initiative fosters cross-sector collaboration between government, industry, non-profits, academia, and research institutions. By leveraging all sectors’ strengths, we can create a more efficient, innovative, and scalable Ocean Enterprise—requiring sustained investment at the scale of today’s Weather Enterprise.

Defining the Ocean Enterprise

The Ocean Enterprise includes all entities—public, priviate, non-profit, research, and academic—that provide infrastructure and capacity for ocean observation, measurement, and forecasting or deliver operational ocean information product and services.

Catalyzing Growth

This investment, along with future contributions from partners, creates a unique opportunity to shape the Ocean Enterprise’s future. As the initiative grows, collaboration and innovation will remain key drivers of success.

By fostering these efforts, the initiative will help expand both the U.S. and global blue economy. A stronger Ocean Enterprise will create new market opportunities and advance marine technology solutions worldwide.

Additionally, this investment will support workforce development. As marine industries evolve, preparing professionals for a technology-driven job market becomes essential. This initiative ensures the next generation is ready for these emerging opportunities.

What's on the Horizon?

The Ocean Enterprise Initiative plans to facilitate and deliver community convenings, expert working groups, needs assessments, and impact reports. Over the next 4 years, the Initiative plans to support global efforts to sustain a robust ocean observing system, facilitate data and informational provision.

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Goals of the Ocean Enterprise Initiative

Goal #1

A robust Ocean Enterprise recognized as essential to lives and livelihoods; ocean knowledge, products, and services are no longer considered peripheral.

Goal #2

The Ocean Enterprise is visible, identifiable, and recognized as a strong contributor to the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Goal #3

The ocean observing products and services sector is identified as a distinct market sector that attracts investment.

How the Ocean Enterprise Operates

Figure 2. Image shows the value chain outlined in the GOOS 2030 Strategy (2019). While it appears sequential, the interactions are more complex. In reality, feedback loops and communication channels exist between nearly all elements. This structure illustrates how the Ocean Enterprise operates.

The ocean information value chain includes multiple observing value chains, each at different stages of development. These value chains demonstrate how ocean observations become actionable data and valuable services.

Some ocean observing value chains are well-developed and widely used. For example, ocean observations play a key role in advanced weather forecasting. Real-time ocean data feeds into the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Transmission System (GTS). National Meteorological and Hydrological Services then integrate this data into numerical weather models. This process enhances weather forecasts and provides essential hazard warnings.

The Ocean Enterprise Initiative focuses on strengthening the ocean information value chain. Its mission is to establish Ocean Observing as a thriving market sector. By improving data accessibility and industry collaboration, the initiative supports innovation and long-term growth in ocean technology.