One of the biggest challenges that the global marine research is currently facing is the lack of knowledge. In comparison to the innovation and research that takes place on land, data-driven marine research is far behind. The fact is that there are several smaller data initiatives and platforms in the world today, but not an all-encompassing platform combining it all. The Ocean Data Platform is an initiative aiming to change this.
From the local to the global scale, from marine biology to vessel tracking, thousands of people, organizations and companies gather data about the ocean. However, a large amount of ocean data cannot be accessed and is not readily available to enable analysis and decision-making.
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Currently, there are various data initiatives and platforms in operation, but there is not an all-encompassing platform combining it all. Systemizing available knowledge and data, and making it readily available for the public, policymakers and businesses worldwide will be able to address some of the major challenges currently facing marine conservation.
The ambition of REV Ocean’s Global Ocean Data Platform is to establish a global, unifying ocean data platform that will enable unbiased research and facilitate a data-driven debate, leading to better decision-making and enable more successful conservation and utilization of ocean resources.
More specifically, the data platform will:
- Contribute to data liberation from source systems and remove proprietary data silos;
- Contextualize the data in a common format to enable cross-domain analytics and visualizations;
- Make data available through open, high performing and well documented APIs to make it as easy as possible to access and build applications.
The Global Ocean Data Platform will also be based on open collaboration with current data providers and knowledge hubs for ocean data, with this data being shared for free.
A demo version of the Ocean Data Platform was launched in San Francisco in September 2018, with REV Ocean now working together with Cognite to develop further use cases, which it plans to launch during the ‘Our Ocean conference’ in Oslo in October 2019.
What is more, Bjørn Tore Markussen, director of DNV GL’s data management platform Veracity, will take on the role as the new CEO for the Ocean Data Platform Foundation. Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Markussen said that the data produced regarding the ocean is often stored in proprietary silos, or it is difficult to access. The new platform aims to give businesses, academia, industry, and the public access to this information.
In addition, Nina Jensen, CEO of REV Ocean shared her thrill to have Bjørn Tore Markussen developing the Ocean Data Platform. On the same wavelength, Dr. John Markus Lervik, CEO of Cognite, mentioned that today there is a great need for a common and accessible hub for information about the oceans. He also welcomed Mr. Markussen’s appointment, noting that he will contribute his network and experience within the maritime sector.
