In response to the UK Government's commitment to enable open access to marine data, ABPmer will consider the potential merits of expanding public access and how such access might be achieved.

The Productive Seas Evidence Group (PSEG) – through MEDIN, The Crown Estate, the MMO and Marine Scotland – has commissioned ABPmer, a leading marine environmental consultancy, to consider the potential merits of expanding public access to industry marine environmental data within the marine sector and how that access might be achieved.

The UK Government has committed to enabling open access to as much marine data as possible. The intention behind this commitment is to reduce the costs and burdens to developers, as well as to ensure that the maximum value is extracted from existing data.

Whilst an explicit commitment to facilitate access to industry marine environmental data where possible has been made, there remains a need to understand what data is and isn’t available for re-use, what might be useful to other parities and how this data is held.

Claire Brown, Head of Data at ABPmer said:

“We were delighted to be awarded this contract. Much of the marine environmental data collected by industry has a re-use value and where possible should be archived and made widely available.

“Working with marine industry stakeholders, we will review and define the types of marine environmental data collected by industry both for consenting and otherwise, and assess availability and accessibility of these data. We will also consider access options with estimated costs and make recommendations on how to minimise costs and maximise benefits of storing data and making it more widely available.”

ABPmer has undertaken a large number of strategic marine environmental data projects for the UK Government and for marine industries and has particular expertise in marine data infrastructures. They routinely assist public and private sector organisations with the management and use of large marine data sets to support decision-making.