Thank you very much for inviting me. I'm the president and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada, and I'll describe it as ONC throughout.
We operate one of Canada's largest research facilities funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Government of Canada.
We operate these world-leading cabled ocean observatories in Canada's Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans. These observatories collect and deliver real-time ocean data for science, society and industry. Through our data system, Oceans 3.0, data are collected in all forms, are quality assured and archived and are made openly available.
In 17 years of operations, ONC has grown to support more than 22,000 users from Canada and around the world. We currently host 12,000 sensors, many of which are Canadian made, and we currently store over 1.2 petabytes of data, a vast archive, which is an ocean resource.
Canada's coastline at 250,000 kilometres is the world's longest. If outstretched, it would circle the earth's equator over six times. Given this scale, the unprecedented threats from climate change and the ocean's particular role in regulating our climate in making the earth habitable, citizen scientists are helping to fill a gap that is critical for understanding our changing ocean, its impacts and ways to mitigate and adapt to these impacts.
ONC's citizen science programs launched in 2012 when we deployed our first cabled observatory in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. While engaging with the community to design this first of its kind observatory, ONC learned that the community wanted real-time information particularly about the thickness of the sea ice to ensure their safety, as climate change had made travelling on the ice risky and unpredictable. Therefore, we included a sea ice profiler instrument to the observatory. That first year we were all keen to learn if this observatory would withstand the harsh Arctic environment. I'm pleased to say that it did, and it continues to this day. From that first day, their observatory provides sea ice thickness data to the community in real time. The data from all the instruments are of particular interest to the community's youth, who regularly engage with ONC science to analyze them and understand their changing ocean front yard.
The Cambridge Bay community observatory's success set ONC on a path to work with other coastal communities and initiated citizen science in many other locations. Citizens make excellent scientists because they understand that their data are beneficial to local and sometimes national decision making. To complement community observatories, ONC developed the community fishers program which puts science instruments in the hands of citizens. Many local boat operators, mariners and volunteer citizens regularly collect ocean data to help inform responsible ocean management. ONC now supports 37 community observatories and citizen science programs, mainly with indigenous partners, on all three of our coasts. We anticipate these numbers will continue to grow.
These localized observing systems complement existing regional and global marine research activities, while also providing education, training and outreach opportunities for many coastal dwellers, including for indigenous businesses, communities and youth.
There are key success factors that demonstrate the value of these programs. Clear partnership roles and understanding communities' unique needs are, without a doubt, the foundation to this success. Respecting indigenous data sovereignty and implementing the ownership, control, access and possession, or OCAP, principles are another. The data must be provided openly to the local communities for easy retrieval and be of the highest quality. It is also important to provide support to citizens wishing to participate. In our case, the support might include funding for a community boat to collect the data or compensate a dedicated community participant for their precious time.
ONC has found that citizen scientists are a key stakeholder group that fills gaps in our ocean knowledge. Programs like the oceans protection plan and the salmon restoration and innovation fund, and now Canada's ocean conservation goals, like 30 by 2030, would see great benefit from an expansion of citizen science where many indigenous communities are truly the stewards of Canada's coastline. Such programs continue to contribute to Canada's leadership in ocean science and provides critical information for combatting the impacts of climate change on all three coasts.
From just coming from IMPAC5, I can say that I see Canada as truly leading the world in indigenous citizen science.
Thank you very much for your time.