Value chains in public marine data

Abstract

Marine data play a crucial role for many scientific disciplines, as well as for very diverse operational services such as fisheries management, environmental planning, marine conservation, weather forecasting, or port management. The information derived from marine data is also increasingly finding its way into a wide and varied range of public policy arenas and private industries. Collecting, distributing and archiving public marine data provide benefits to society at large, however as with all public investments, assessments are needed to provide evidence to decision makers. Based on an original survey of UK marine data users, this paper explores pathways through which marine data are used and transformed into actionable information, creating systematised value chains for the first time. The analysis unveils trends in current marine data uses in the UK and key benefits of data uses. The paper lays the foundations for further OECD work with the marine data community.

Understanding the contribution of Flanders’ public marine data to society

“…The Government of Flanders has, in close cooperation with VLIZ, supported the strategy to embed and foster VLIZ capabilities and infrastructures by their linkage with relevant international networks. The periodic review of VLIZ' performance in this area has confirmed that this strategy has made VLIZ, in particular the VLIZ Marine Data Centre, a strong international partner (IDEAConsult, 2021 [12]).…”

“…Note: The remaining occupations selected by respondents are (number of unique respondents in parentheses): Marine scientist (geology and geophysics)(12), Digital, data and technology specialist/manager(10), Marine scientist (oceanography, ocean modelling and forecasting) (9),…”

Report on economic value of ocean observations

“…According to the OECD, value chains provide a useful tool for identifying the benefits associated with ocean observations (Jolly et al, 2021). Their case study on value chains in public marine data in the UK found that marine data contributes to better knowledge and improved tools that generate various economic and societal benefits.…”