Environment Canada (EC), the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and the Department of National Defence (DND) all need the products and modelling capabilities that can be provided by an operational global coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice data assimilation and prediction system. Argo floats, together with other data sets (e.g., altimeter, remotely sensed sea surface temperature, and tropical moored arrays) provide tremendous potential for the development of ocean data assimilation systems. An inter-departmental advisory panel (comprised of the authors listed above) developed recommendations for an operational Canadian coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice data assimilation and modelling capability. These recommendations have been accepted by senior departmental managers, resulting in the development of a new inter-agency initiative referred to as the Canadian Operational Network of Coupled Environmental PredicTion Systems (CONCEPTS). In the past year agreement-in-principle has been reached with the Mercator group (France) to install a version of their ocean data assimilation and prediction system at the Canadian Meteorological Centre, and collaborate in a number of core research projects directed towards improved capabilities for atmosphere-ocean-ice prediction at various scales. Initial resources have been put in place for the establishment of three major inter-related activities: 1) an operational activity based on coupling the Canadian atmospheric GEM model with the Mercator system; 2) a research and development (R&D) activity consisting of government and academic research networks to develop and maintain a system tailored to Canadian needs in the longer term; and 3) a products activity to identify, develop and disseminate relevant products and outputs. The operational activity is being built upon existing EC infrastructure. The R&D activity will be enhanced through a new research network funded by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences. This talk will provide an overview of CONCEPTS and its applications, and will summarize results to date and plans for the future.