Report: Marine geospatial collaboration will reaffirm the UK’s role as a global leader in ocean science

The UK’s approach to collecting data from the world’s oceans will significantly improve with greater collaboration among members of the marine geospatial community, according to a new report launched on behalf of the UK Marine Geospatial Community.

The recently completed Future of UK marine geospatial data study found that marine geospatial stakeholders from UK government, industry and academia must find new ways of working together to source and manage marine geospatial information. This will help drive the UK’s Build Back Better plan, while ensuring the nation retains its position as a world leader in ocean science.

The report was created as a result of a call for evidence from the Geospatial Commission on how geospatial data can support economic growth and productivity across the UK. To assist with that call, the Commission requested that UKHO and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) work together on a Marine Geospatial Evidence Base.

The BEIS and UKHO, along with the government’s Policy Lab – a hub to enable teams across Whitehall to develop impactful policy decisions – hosted workshops to give stakeholders from right across the UK’s diverse marine geospatial sector a forum to discuss opportunities, barriers, future users and best practices.