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Ocean Data CommunityWhat makes Marinexplore completely different compared to other ocean data tools, are its community and co-creation features. As an ocean data collaboration platform, Marinex- plore wants to bring together the whole ocean community. This is an important component of the company?s char- ter, according to Sternfeld. ?Today people working on the speci c task are collaborating usually with a couple of col- leagues from around the world. For the bene t of all of us on this planet?and considering that 90% of the oceans are un-explored ? we need to be much more open and collaborative with information and communications related to the oceans.? Much like LinkedIn, the Marinexplore community creates a virtual community for people working on oceans. Users can add work history, skills, and expertise. But Sternfeld says it?s not that straightforward. ?The public pro le is the tip of the iceberg. When I say ?collaboration? I mean collaboration. People will be able to explore and discuss data privately or publicly, sharing results in the real time and co-creating new content. It has happened elsewhere in the business software world. There?s no reason why it shouldn?t be so with the ocean data and community.? The main channel for the Marinexplore ocean community is the co-creation section of its website. Sternfeld believes co- creation will eventually be good means for the ocean com- munity to making discoveries and developing new models. ?And it will also help to create context around the data the us- ers are looking for. Current registered users include members of the oceanographic and marine technology community, en- vironment, offshore industry, and more,? said Sternfeld. A Look into Future ?Marinexplore is a system integrator that creates tools to manage different types of data on top of existing modern analytical data computing platforms. This is how we can in- crease the productivity and quality of end applications. So we are not actually creating something completely new but just putting pieces the right pieces to together? said Sternfeld.The company is currently choosing pilot project partners for the API it is developing. ?We are looking for ways to im- prove decision-making applications and to utilize other ben- e ts that will be possible thanks to a well organized spatial data repository,? said Sternfeld. While many businesses are planning to shift their focus on ocean resources, tough competition and raising compliance requirements do not make conquering the new frontier any easier. Sternfeld doesn?t want to go into the details when speaking about other future developments of the Marinexplore but he?s convinced in one thing: ?We?ve entered into an era of big data. The tools used for ocean data have not yet entered this era. Marinexplore is going to introduce this era to the ocean community.? www.seadiscovery.com MTR #9 (34-49).indd 35MTR #9 (34-49).indd 3511/29/2012 4:00:59 PM11/29/2012 4:00:59 PM