U.S. President Joe Biden has unveiled plans to spend USD 34 million (EUR 31 million) on modernizing NOAA Fisheries’ workforce, infrastructure, and data efforts.
“NOAA Fisheries' short-term data-modernization efforts will drive significant long-term changes by enhancing our capacity to deliver mission-critical information, meeting survey and fishery data requirements and transition into a modern data era,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said. “This investment aligns with NOAA Fisheries’ existing data work, supplements appropriated funding, and supports other regional priority efforts.”
The investment will be used to improve data accessibility via cloud computing and Open Science Framework solutions, according to NOAA Fisheries.
“Open Science is the principle and practice of making research products and processes available to all, while respecting diverse cultures, maintaining security and privacy, and fostering collaborations, reproducibility, and equity,” according to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
NOAA Fisheries will also provide training for its employees to help them adopt new technologies and move to more open, accessible information systems.
The first award issued under the new funding is USD 1 million (EUR 909,000) to Openscapes, a group that helps organizations adopt open science practices. NOAA Fisheries already partners with Openscapes to provide team-based training on “reproducible scientific workflows and platforms,” according to the agency.
Funding for the modernization efforts – which will be distributed via grants, contracts, cooperative institutes, and federal employment – was provided via the Inflation Reduction Act. The Biden administration has used the legislation to dedicate more than USD 3 billion (EUR 2.7 billion) to NOAA for habitat restoration, coastal resiliency, conservation, and other priorities.
“Rapidly changing oceanic conditions, such as shifts in marine species' distribution and abundance greatly impacts businesses and coastal communities that rely on these resources," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said. "This investment, made possible thanks to the Biden-Harris administration's Investing in America agenda, will help modernize data delivery in support of the nation's USD 370 billion [EUR 336 billion] fishing industry. "
