Demystifying the sharing of ocean data

The ability to access, share and use data is key to understanding the ocean, but businesses are still hesitant to share data. Operations Manager Tom Redd talked about how to change this at the just concluded Ocean Data Conference.

How can we enable businesses to share more ocean data? What type of business models are needed and how do we alleviate the concerns regarding sharing of data?

These are the main topics C4IR Ocean’s Operations Manager, Tom Redd addressed at the Ocean Data Conference.

The IOC’s International Ocean Data Conference –The Data We Need for the Ocean We Want took place in Sopot, Poland between 14-16 February as a hybrid event. The Conference aims to consider strategies to enable the digital ocean ecosystem we need, discussing both technological developments and future directions for data management.  

Tom Redd presented C4IR Ocean’s activities at the Conference in a talk titled “Governance and Business Models for Data Sharing”. This presentation initiated a discussion on the types of business models that are conducive to greater ocean data sharing from industry.  

““Recognizing that these models might differ from science and government institutions is an important step in understanding how data providers can benefit from data sharing”

-Tom Redd, Operations Manager

It is increasingly acknowledged that we need ocean data, collected from multiple and diverse sources, shared openly worldwide if we are to create transformative and harmonized solutions for ocean health and wealth. While great strides have been made in opening access to science and government data, access to industry data is still lacking for reasons related to ownership, fairness of use, trust, ethics, valorization, and risk to competitiveness.  

“Still, we see strong indications the business world is willing to share more data”,

-Tom Redd says

Businesses now understand the need to transition towards environmentally sustainable business models and understand the role of data sharing in enabling this. While this is a good starting point, the next step requires us critically think about strategies to integrate this understanding into business models and alleviate concerns about data sharing.  

A key part of Tom Redd’s argument is the need to “demystify data sharing” and transform the abstract notion of data sharing into concrete examples of benefit for companies. In his words: 

“We need to provide companies with examples of how data sharing works in practice and what they stand to gain. This may be economic value, but it can also be a way for companies to reposition themselves in the marketplace and show the world they are forward leaning”.  

There is still a lot we don’t know in this regard, but several activities already exist. For instance, the Data for Common Purpose Initiative led by the World Economic Forum seeks to create new data governance models to enables companies understand the benefits of data sharing.  

This is a good step in the right direction of finding strategies for companies change their business models and share their data about oceans.  

For more information, contact:

Vigdis Hvaal, Head of Communication, People & Learning, C4IR Ocean

Tel: +47 952 00 932

E-mail: vigdis.hvaal@oceandata.earth