Inter-disciplinary Ocean Research - A path forward

The need for improved coordination in ocean observations is more urgent now given the issues of climate change, sustainable food sources, natural hazards. Through an NSF-sponsored Ocean Research Coordination Network, a multidisciplinary team is addressing approaches for collaboration and issues that should be addressed to create an effective environment for collaboration within the ocean research community. This paper discusses initial work in the area of open data and looks toward initiatives where demonstrations of multi-disciplinary interoperability guide the definition of best practices for broad applications.