Out of the Box and Off the Shelf: How the Next Generation of Blue Tech Startups is Advancing the Ocean Enterprise's Contribution to Our Coasts

A new generation of blue tech startups is making transformational advances in ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes observing and modeling. Government agencies such as NOAA, NASA, and the Navy are partnering with these companies to improve our ability to monitor weather, water, and climate on our coasts and prepare the public for hazards, adapt to climate change, conserve natural resources, and realize critical benefits to the new blue economy and national security. Examples of these public-private partnerships will be provided, including autonomous underwater vehicles and networks of ocean sensors delivering data as a service (DaaS), artificial intelligence-enabled weather and climate decision-support software as a service (SaaS), and smallsat constellations that monitor weather, water, and climate. Specific applications will be presented as well, such as sustainable fisheries management, habitat restoration, marine debris removal, marine mammal and harmful algal bloom monitoring, coral reef conservation, aquaculture siting, offshore energy development, marine transportation, and port operations.