ESSO - Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services

Director's Desk

Dr. BALAKRISHNAN NAIR T.M

It gives me immense pleasure to be back at INCOIS in the new role of Director, INCOIS.

INCOIS with its strong mandate for ocean observations, modelling, information and advisory services, has occupied a niche space in national, regional and global oceanography.

Though originally conceived as a provider of oceanographic data and services, INCOIS quickly evolved into a knowledge and information technology hub for the oceanic realm. Not many countries in the world can boast of institutions such as INCOIS that work towards bringing the benefits of ocean science and technology to meeting societal needs.

Over the years, with the great vision of its directors and the contributions of young, intelligent, dedicated and hardworking colleagues, INCOIS has grown by leaps and bounds to where it is today.

INCOIS, since the last two and half decades, has been serving the nation and the community with various flagship programmes such as Tsunami Early Warnings (TEWS), Ocean State Forecast (OSF), Potential Fishing Zones (PFZ), and Ocean Data Services that have proven to have immense socio-economic benefits for a wide range of stakeholders, and enhance the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities.

INCOIS also provides several services to the international community through the UNESCO Category 2 Centre International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOO) and as Tsunami Service Provider (TSP) for the Indian Ocean region.

With oceans becoming the new centres of economic activity, the effects of population pressure and climate change threaten the long-term sustainability of ecosystem services rendered by the oceans. Accurate prediction of essential ocean variables is of paramount importance for driving the Blue Economy initiatives and for sustainable management of oceans through science-informed policy responses.

The Deep Ocean mission of MoES and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-30) provide excellent opportunities and a collaborative framework both nationally and internationally for INCOIS to continue its growth as a global centre of excellence in operational oceanography.

True to its current mission, INCOIS will continue to provide the best possible ocean information and advisory services to all maritime stakeholders through sustained observations and constant improvements through systematic and focussed research.

INCOIS will strive to continually enhance the scope and accuracy of its existing services while continuing to expand the bouquet of products/services and the user base.

We will soon be moving towards a “unified modelling and operational forecasting system” to forecast anything from local beach conditions to regional currents and waves, and oceanic circulation on a global scale across a range of time scales.

While we serve the nation at no cost, we will also gear up to compete with the commercial markets. All of this requires substantial enhancement of scientific capacities at INCOIS and fostering multi-stakeholder partnerships with social scientists, disaster managers and the public alike.

INCOIS will continue to draw upon the competencies of partner institutions, academia and industry in areas of ocean observations, core research, ICT innovations and user engagement to achieve a fine balance between operational activities and applied research.

ITCOO will be used as a strategic platform for academic research in support of INCOIS services, competency development of our own staff, and for capacity development in the whole Indian Ocean region.

With an evolving strategy and our approach to “Build to Adapt” rather than “Built to Last”, INCOIS will create a resilient system and be prepared for unforeseen circumstances. We will work towards reviewing our own strengths, activities and skill sets and map them to the ever-changing requirements of our users.

With the support of INCOIS staff, Ministry. the Governing and advisory bodies such as GC, FC and RAC and our sister institutions, I am sure we can elevate INCOIS to the next higher level.

Thank you.

Jai Hind.