SECOORA Market Analysis

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Purpose

As SECOORA continues with system development efforts, it is critical to establish and nurture strategic public and private sector partnerships and to effectively communicate with numerous existing and potential stakeholder audiences. This marketing and communications plan will serve as guidance for those efforts, providing goals and recommended actions for targeting market sector partnerships and establishing a strategic framework for SECOORA’s external and internal stakeholder communications. The purpose of this plan is to set out marketing and communications objectives, define key themes and messages, and establish marketing performance requirements that can be aligned with the SECOORA business plan and RCOOS development plan.

The vision of SECOORA is to establish and maintain a sustainable, user-driven regional coastal ocean observing system. Given that the potential users of the system are numerous and extremely diverse, it is critical for this plan to define a functional marketing approach that recognizes a full range of potential stakeholders while identifying benefit-driven priorities for implementation.

Market Characterization

In this evolving regional observing system, it may be as important to pursue strategic new markets as it is to meet the existing needs of established, well-defined user communities. This section provides a broad overview of the various market sectors that represent likely IOOS users and beneficiaries. By understanding the relative market positions of each sector and the potential benefits that IOOS may bring to each sector, SECOORA can identify and pursue priority high-yield partnership opportunities and marketing initiatives.

Marine Industries

Marine industry users vary widely and are consumers of both public and private sector information. The various sections below contain statistics on some of the highest impact marine industries in the southeast region.

Source: Douglas-Westwood, Ltd.

Regional Ports, Shipping and Marine Commerce

Regional Port Overview – insert regional map of ports.

Source: American Association of Port Authorities

Source: National Ocean Economics Program

Source: National Ocean Economics Program

Regional Tourism

U.S. Cruise Industry Impacts

• Total economic benefit in the U.S. of $25.4 billion
• Direct spending of cruise lines and passengers on U.S. goods is $12.9 billion
• 295,077 jobs are generated by these expenditures
• $11.6 billion in wages paid to U.S. employees

Source: ICCL 2004 Economic Summary

Source: ICCL 2004 Economic Summary

Source: National Ocean Economics Program

Source: U.S. Coast Guard

Source: American Sportfishing Association study by Southwick Associates

Source: American Sportfishing Association study by Southwick Associates

Regional Coastal Ocean Natural Resoure Industries

Source: National Ocean Economics Program

Source: National Ocean Economics Program

Weather and Climate

Weather and climate IOOS users include an array of public and private sector entities providing information to the general public, the marine industries audiences above, and other sectors who rely heavily on marine weather and climate data such as agriculture, energy, airlines and insurance industries.

Source: USDA Census of Agriculture

Source: Energy Information Administration

Weather's Share of National Aviation System (NAS) Delays National – 2005

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

The weather and climate group includes public sector forecasters and climatologists (NWS, military forecasters, climatologists, etc) and private sector weather providers (forecasting services, value-added product providers, media, etc.)

Insert regional map of NWS offices and State climatologist locations and general use statistics if available.

Include appendix with private sector weather provider list

Public Health & Safety

Natural Resource Management

Security and Defense

Education and Training

Market Needs and Opportunities

Marketing & Communication Goals and Strategies

Performance

Implementation Priorities

Regional Outreach – Extension & Education Planning Template (For Discussion)

As part of the regional and national IOOS organizing efforts, it is recommended that each Regional Association (RA) and the National Federation of Regional Associations (NFRA) develop an operational and governance structure for addressing outreach functions. It is critical that outreach considerations including extension and education be built into the SECOORA organizing, planning, and implementation processes, therefore early consideration should be given to developing an effective and inclusive outreach structure and strategy.

Outreach: Extension and Education Outcomes

The primary outcomes to be achieved by the outreach program include:

Stakeholder Engagement – Stakeholders can successfully use system information in their decision making processes. Public and private sector stakeholders from a broad range of user communities are engaged in the RA process at multiple levels. Stakeholders actively participate in targeted product development and evaluation processes. Stakeholder needs are identified and routinely measured to evaluate overall system performance. Continuous and ongoing dialogue is initiated and facilitated between the system developers and the user communities.

Education Application – K-16 institutions, educators and students can successfully use system information in the formal classroom. System information can be used in “free choice” institutions as part of formal and informal educational programs. Education needs are identified and routinely measured to evaluate overall system performance. Continuous and ongoing dialogue is initiated and facilitated between the system developers and the education communities.

Public Awareness – General public has a greater awareness of system’s societal benefits including contributions to public health and safety, economics, and the environment. Public response is periodically evaluated to assess overall effectiveness.

Regional Extension and Education Entities

To achieve the outreach outcomes, a wide variety of resources and capabilities are required. Fortunately, there are existing entities in all regions that already work either exclusively or primarily in the coastal and marine environment to achieve similar outreach and education outcomes. It is recommended that these entities be included, where appropriate, as organizing and/or implementing partners in the RA outreach efforts.

Sea Grant – Sea Grant’s outreach resources include extension agents, educators and communicators, who translate research into usable information and products for a variety of audiences. Organized by state, Sea Grant includes extension, communications, coastal and marine research/stakeholder linkages. The Sea Grant network maintains significant infrastructure, expertise, and contacts with regard to stakeholder engagement, education and public awareness mechanisms. The Sea Grant network has offered to serve as a coordinating entity to assist each RA in organizing and implementing an outreach strategy. A working model of a Sea Grant/COSEE led extension and education approach is currently operational in the southeast region.

COSEEs – The Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) is a network, consisting of seven regional centers that promote the development of effective partnerships between research scientists and educators, disseminate effective ocean sciences programs, and promote education as a vehicle for creating a more scientifically literate workforce and citizenry. COSEEs are also active partners in the southeast region outreach model.

Sub-Regional System Resources – A number of the existing sub-regional coastal ocean observing system partners have successfully established outreach and/or education programs associated with their systems. Stakeholder and education collaborations may have already been established and successful partnerships may already be in place to serve as a foundation for building regional outreach capabilities.

Coastal Ocean Related Stakeholder Entities – In most regions there are stakeholder groups with ongoing education and coastal outreach programs such as National Estuarine Research Reserves, National Marine Sanctuaries, and coastal locations of the National Park Service and state parks systems. There are also marine labs and other university-based marine programs as well as non-profits and associations such as the National Marine Educators Association and its regional chapters that are routinely involved in coastal and marine outreach and education initiatives.

Institutes of Higher Learning and Free Choice Institutions – Universities, colleges, and technical schools with marine studies or coastal programs have broad access to the public and often have existing outreach programs. Institutions such as aquaria, museums, and community-based organizations often incorporate coastal ocean education into their formal and informal learning programs. These institutions may have significant existing partnerships with stakeholder communities as well as wide access to general public audiences.

Regional Organizing and Planning Issues

A key to meeting the desired outreach outcomes is to build an effective coalition with existing entities and to develop a strategy contributing toward common objectives. In addition, it is critical to approach outreach as an integral ongoing operational function of the RA and not simply an approach or a mechanism for distributing data to stakeholders without the necessary input and feedback loops. Following are considerations in organizing the extension and education efforts:

Governance – The outreach function should be considered carefully when establishing an RA governance structure. The need to engage stakeholders in the RA process should include some level of stakeholder representation in the governance structure. It is highly unrealistic, however, to expect that significant representation from all IOOS user groups will be incorporated into the RA membership. It is also unlikely that fully representative groups of stakeholders (particularly those from the private sector) would be willing to put forth substantial time and effort to contribute in an advisory capacity on an ongoing basis.

A much more efficient process is to establish an operational outreach strategy that effectively engages targeted stakeholders in the context of their own applications for feedback on system and product development, review, and performance. As part of this strategy, some individual stakeholders could be identified for relevant representative membership roles in the RA, but the overall process would be far more inclusive of full stakeholder input. It would also be more strategic in its focus on relevant stakeholder groups, and less subject to total reliance on the few individual users who are willing and able to participate in the RA business process.

One suggested model is to evolve the process, beginning with a regional outreach workgroup responsible for the development and oversight of a comprehensive extension and education process. Workgroup membership would include RA staff representation, along with applicable coastal ocean outreach and education entities, and stakeholder representatives within the region. The task of the workgroup based on the resources available, the state of the existing and proposed IOOS capabilities, and the status of the overall RA development process, would be to prepare a strategy and implementation plan for addressing the desired stakeholder engagement, education, and public awareness outcomes. The workgroup would assist the RA in further defining the role of stakeholders in the governance and operating structure.

Funding – To successfully meet outreach objectives and truly engage users in the regional development process, funding must be dedicated specifically for extension and education efforts. Considering that the success of the initiative is tied to meeting user needs, resources are necessary as early in the process as possible to identify and engage stakeholders, develop and deliver user-defined products, and develop mechanisms to adequately measure system performance.

Leveraging – Leveraging is essential to maximize the funding and staffing resources available and to avoid duplication and overlap in dealing with stakeholder/user communities. As mentioned earlier, extension and education partnerships with similar entities can produce immediate linkages with key users. On a regional scale, Sea Grant and COSEE partners can utilize their local and national networks to identify and facilitate potential leveraging opportunities.

Planning – Planning should incorporate short-term and long-term outreach objectives. Short-term objectives such as initial user engagement or development of some targeted user products are essential to jump-start the RA process. Long-term strategies, however, are required to achieve the desired outreach outcomes. To ensure that stakeholders can and do use system information in decision making and classroom activities requires a more comprehensive planning approach. It also results in a more effective evaluation of system performance.

Coordination – Significant efficiencies could be achieved in extension and education through coordinated regional and national efforts.

APPENDIX – STAKEHOLDER/USER ASSESSMENT RESOURCES

(Excerpts of these documents are available for continued development of the document)

1. An Assessment of the U.S. Marine Transportation System, A Report To Congress, September 1999
2. Integrated Ocean Observing System-Coastal Ocean Observing System and Education Workshop Report, Charleston, South Carolina March 22-24, 2004
3. Defining the Requirements of the U.S. Energy Industry for Climate, Weather, and Ocean Information
4. Requirements of the U.S. Recreation and Tourism Industry for Climate, Weather, and Ocean Information
5. An Assessment Of The Integrated Maritime Information System Concept As Applied To U.S. Ports And Waterways
6. Regional Market and Policy Imperatives as Drivers for the U.S. Coastal Global Ocean Observing System Design
7. Applying Advanced Information Systems to Ports and Waterways Management
8. The Global Ocean Observing System: Users, Benefits, and Priorities
9. Marine Protected Areas Technology Needs Assessment
10. State Coastal Observations and Monitoring Needs: Results of a Survey to Assess Coastal Management Needs
11. Managing Troubled Waters: The Role of Marine Environmental Monitoring
12. Clean Coastal Waters: Understanding and Reducing the Effects of Nutrient Pollution
13. Contaminated Marine Sediments: Assessment and Remediation
14. From Monsoons to Microbes: Understanding the Ocean's Role in Human Health
15. Potential Consequences Of Climate Variability And Change For Human Health In The United States
16. Oil in the Sea III: Inputs, Fates, and Effects
17. Opportunities to Improve Marine Forecasting
18. Reducing the Impacts of Disasters through Improved Earth Observations
19. National Aviation Weather Program Mid-Course Assessment
20. Coastal Climatology Products for Recreation and Tourism End Users in Southeastern North Carolina
21. Public Health Risks of Disasters: Communication, Infrastructure, and Preparedness
22. Operation BoatSmart Planning and Implementation Guidance
23. Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change for the Southeastern United States
24. U.S. Coast Guard Harbor Safety Committee Study
25. U. S. Coast Guard Marine Safety and Environmental Protection Business Plan
26. Weather Information for Surface Transportation National Needs Assessment Report