SAMREF
South African Marine Research and Exploration Forum
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About
Background
Participants at the Initiative B3 Kickstart meeting in Cape Town in 2015. Courtesy: J. Pauw
Minister Naledi Pandor (DST) and Mr Sean Lunn (OPASA) signed the Memorandum of Understanding to establish the South African Marine Research and Exploration Forum, marking the successful completion of Operation Phakisa Initiative B3. Courtesy: Department of Science and Technology
The Operation Phakisa Oceans Economy Lab took place from 8 July 2014 to 15 August 2014 in Durban comprising Labs for Marine Infrastructure, Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration, Aquaculture, and Marine Protection Services, and Ocean Governance. The products of the 6-week Operation
Phakisa Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration Lab are contained in a report dated 14 August 2014.
One of these products was Initiative B3 – “Exploiting the broader research
opportunities presented by offshore oil and gas exploration”. The overall objective for Initiative B3 was framed as a desired outcome as follows –
By 2024, South Africa’s knowledge of its marine living natural resources, marine environment and ocean-related renewable energy resources is greatly enhanced through collaborative research with private sector exploration activities.
In 2016, the South African Marine Research and Exploration Forum (SAMREF) was launched as a science-industry data sharing platform to realise the objectives of Initiative B3.
What We Do
SAMREF has developed two functions:
1. A brokerage service for for non-commercial data sharing between researchers and industry
2. Contact point for curation of industry data (through the SAEON Open Data Platform)