Since our founding, we set out to bring the power of data and technology to bear on the forces shaping the future of the ocean – from corporates to financial institutions to governments– to help steer a better course for ocean health. By delivering fit-for-purpose data and powerful tools that are grounded in science and cutting-edge technology, we enable sustainable decisions and impactful action for the ocean.

2024 was a landmark year for HUB Ocean with the public launch of our Ocean Data Platform (ODP). Built for data scientists, we are serving the needs of a growing user community – from ocean researchers and marine spatial planners to sustainability professionals within industry and finance. For them, the ODP is both a streamlined gateway to the world’s ocean data landscape and a powerful workspace for analysis and application. For us, it is the cornerstone of our mission to make ocean data – both public and private – more accessible, actionable and impactful through the ODP platform, its associated data catalog and our API first approach.

One of the biggest gaps in ocean knowledge stems from private sector data not being publicly shared. In October, we released our first Tides of Transparency report – a flagship effort to map the state of industrial ocean data sharing. Strikingly, we found that only 3% of the data in global biodiversity repositories originated from industry. That’s a staggering shortfall when you think of the scale of human activity out at sea and the vast data collection landscape that we know these industries have built.

But this year also brought hope, with leaders like TGS, Ecowende, and Aker BP stepping up to share data onto the Ocean Data Platform. Much of the ocean data generated by industry can be shared with science without real risk, and the benefits of greater transparency –like more credible transition plans and improved operational efficiency – are increasingly hard to ignore. Yet through our many interactions, it’s clear that managing ocean data remains a challenge for many company teams. In response, we’re launching Ocean Data Harmonized – a professional service to help ocean industries manage and share their data more effectively.

In 2024, we also started to ramp the development of our first data product that we called Ocean Sensitive Areas. As interest grows in understanding (ocean) nature-related pressures, dependencies and risks, we have set our sights on providing fit-for-purpose insights and metrics to enable more transparency and better decision-making. Indeed, it became clear that even when companies and financial institutions wanted to act, insights into where nature is in the ocean and how it interlocks with a company’s operations often remained frustratingly out of reach. This is the value that we will bring with the Ocean Sensitive Areas suite of data products.

Science is our most fundamental guide. Thanks to the researchers supporting us, we seek to jointly bridge good science with the pragmatism expected by industry, as we develop our Ocean Data Platform as a gateway for a complex ocean world. With a capable platform in place and a passionate team, we close 2024 ready to deliver much more value to the major “jobs to be done” for the ocean, particularly alongside philanthropic actors and with governments and NGO’s. 

This year’s milestones fill me with pride, but I’m equally clear-eyed about where we need to go next. We’ll continue to amplify impact through unleashing the power of data in the decisive arenas, dismantling excuses for inaction and empowering the very forces (finance and government) that will compel industry to operate within planetary boundaries.

The ocean is the source of life on this planet. It has given us its best —and now it’s our turn to return the favor.

- Kimberly Mathisen, CEO