Fugro is now an Associated Partner of the European Marine Observation and Data Network, a long term EU initiative to make diverse sources of marine data freely and uniformly available to all.

Beneficiaries of this work include policy makers, scientists, private industry and the public. The Fugro‑EMODnet partnership was formalised earlier this week and will focus on expanding private‑sector collaboration and marine data sharing in support of a sustainable blue economy.

Planned partnership activities tightly align with Fugro’s industry-leading involvement in two global ocean science initiatives: The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project (Seabed 2030) and the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (Ocean Decade). An early output of the partnership will be the direct delivery of crowdsourced bathymetry acquired by Fugro for Seabed 2030 into the EMODnet data services.

Dr. Kate Larkin, EMODnet’s Deputy Head of Secretariat, said: “We are delighted to welcome Fugro into the EMODnet community as an Associated Partner. Fugro has such a wealth of high-quality marine environmental and human activities data and information that can be useful for many applications, from operations at sea, to research, ocean governance and beyond. This partnership will connect Fugro’s wealth of experience in marine geospatial data with EMODnet expertise in marine data management, best practices and services to make more private-sector data open and freely accessible to all. This is a win-win for Fugro, EMODnet and for marine data users around the world, particularly at a time when high-quality, trusted marine data and information has never been more crucial to deliver solutions to the unprecedented societal challenges facing us today.”

Dr. Marco Filippone, Fugro’s Solution Director Hydrography, said: “Our new partnership with EMODnet gives us an important opportunity to ramp up our ongoing contribution to the Ocean Decade and Seabed 2030 global initiatives. It perfectly complements our September 2021 partnership agreement with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (IOC-UNESCO) to coordinate and boost access to global ocean science data. We look forward to discussing marine data interoperability with EMODnet, IOC-UNESCO and other ocean-focused organisations during an official ‘side event’ at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon on 29 June.”