The role of the private sector in ocean sensing

Recent years have seen the development of innovative and often lower-cost ocean observing technologies, putting more capability than ever into the hands of private sector companies, in some cases for the first time. At the same time, activity by private sector companies in the coastal oceans has increased in support of oil and gas exploration, offshore wind energy, homeland security, maritime shipping, fisheries, and other drivers. Oceanographic data from private sector sources has the potential to fill in existing data gaps in a cost-effective manner. In order to optimize our ability to make use of such data, a discussion of the policy surrounding the use of private sector data (and of the underlying data infrastructure needed to support it) is needed. This paper discusses some of the background, history, and considerations that have a bearing on the use of such private sector data.