The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) is a long term marine data initiative from the European Commission Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) underpinning its Marine Knowledge 2020 strategy. EMODnet is a consortium of organisations assembling European marine data, data products and metadata from diverse sources in a uniform way. The main purpose of EMODnet is to unlock fragmented and hidden marine data resources and to make these available to individuals and organisations (public and private), and to facilitate investment in sustainable coastal and offshore activities through improved access to quality-assured, standardised and harmonised marine data which are interoperable and free of restrictions on use.

The video highlights the importance of sea and coastal observations and data for a range of applications and users, illustrates the process of collecting, processing, storing and making available marine data, and the need to do embed this process in an interoperable pan-European sharing framework.