Special issue of Oceanography titled, A Vision for Capacity Sharing in the Ocean Sciences

The resources needed to conduct ocean science are not evenly distributed globally, hindering the development of practical, science-based solutions to some of the most challenging ocean problems facing the world today. The Oceanography Society will publish a special issue of the journal "Oceanography" that will: (1) describe the global benefits of sustained capacity sharing in ocean science, technology, and applications; (2) identify the barriers to capacity sharing; (3) share best practices on how to build and sustain capacity-sharing programs, including lessons learned by those who have led such programs; (4) highlight the importance of capacity sharing to jobs and the economy; and (5) identify synergies among existing and new capacity-sharing programs, including those formed through the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030), the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO), and the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) of the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The goal is to provide readers with a valuable resource that will inspire actions on many fronts to achieve these objectives. The Oceanography Society (TOS) will publish a special issue of the open-access journal "Oceanography" on the subject of capacity sharing in the Ocean Sciences. The special issue, planned for 2024, will shine a light on the benefits of global-scale capacity sharing in the ocean sciences and the barriers programs have faced. It will identify practical steps toward implementing higher-quality and better coordinated global capacity sharing. The special issue will encourage wider participation of the global ocean science community in this important endeavor. A focus will be on how to better coordinate the wide array of formal education programs and capacity-sharing efforts in ocean science around the world, particularly on themes such as co-design of research-based solutions to societal needs, standardized data formatting and information management, and low-cost observing approaches. The special issue would contribute to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development Challenge 9: “Ensure comprehensive capacity development and equitable access to data, information, knowledge, and technology across all aspects of ocean science and for all stakeholders.” This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.