REDLANDS, Calif.—December 4, 2018—Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, today announced a partnership with the team behind the Ocean Health Index (OHI), the first program to comprehensively assess ocean health. The OHI itself is a joint project of Conservation International and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. Together, the organizations have integrated OHI scores as a data layer in Esri’s ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World and will launch Ocean Health Hubs, online tools that enable ocean managers to explore data to better understand regional ocean health.
Dealing with ocean health data is complex. OHI assesses ocean health by looking at the social, ecological, and economic benefits that oceans provide to people. There are over 100 global datasets that power OHI’s annual assessments, and they will serve as the foundation for Ocean Health Hubs. Developed with the help of ArcGIS Hub, Esri’s citizen engagement platform, Ocean Health Hubs will display these global datasets with local data and allow faster progress on establishing ocean policies and setting priorities.
“Ocean Health Hubs will streamline data management, target setting, and communication into one tool that can be easily accessed and updated by multiple collaborators,” said Eva Schemmel, OHI director and Conservation International science adviser. “Citizens, scientists, managers, nonprofits, and governmental agencies can use the hubs together, making engagement more efficient and effective.”
Ocean Health Hubs can be used as the first step in regional OHI assessments or on their own to track ocean conservation investments and sustainable ocean management within a region. Esri’s mapping and analytics software will bring this data to life, allowing users to visualize ocean health through Living Atlas and explore open-source datasets for a specific region through hubs.
“Esri is happy to partner with OHI to further unlock data and lower the barriers for ocean managers and policy makers,” said Dawn Wright, Esri chief scientist. “These newly accessible datasets will allow users to better understand their regional ocean health and make sustainable ocean management decisions. Our involvement is part of Esri’s broader support of initiatives within Conservation International and is in concert with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.”
To learn more about the data behind OHI Global Scores that will form the basis for the new Ocean Health Hubs, visit ohi-science.org/ohi-global/index.
About Esri
Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, offers the most powerful mapping and spatial analytics technology available. Since 1969, Esri has helped customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Today, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including the world’s largest cities, most national governments, 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri engineers the most advanced solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and location analytics to inform the most authoritative maps in the world. Visit us at esri.com.
Copyright © 2018 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, The Science of Where, ArcGIS, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners.
Contact
Jo Ann Pruchniewski
Public Relations, Esri
Mobile: 301-693-2643
Email: jpruchniewski@esri.com
