The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is part of an interagency working group that is composed of federal agency representatives that strive to identify common ground, plan future steps, and initiate partnership activities. The Interagency Working Group on Ocean Partnerships (IWG-OP) advises and assists the Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST) and the Ocean Resource Management Interagency Policy Committee (ORM-IPC) on matters related to ocean partnership programs, a continuation and expansion of the partnership efforts begun under NOPP. IWG-OP membership reflects that of the SOST and meetings are monthly. Additional information on this group and its responsibilities can be found in the IWG-OP Strategic Plan and the IWG-OP Charter.
The IWG-OP focuses on those objectives that are felt to be too big for any single agency, or cut across multiple missions, or require government-private-academic partnerships for success.
Strategic Goals:
- Continue and expand ocean partnership dialogues
- Sponsor ocean partnership activities
- Identify and remove obstacles and disincentives to ocean partnerships
- Facilitate opportunities for dialogue with the nation’s leadership
Current topics of interest for the IWG-OP include: biodiversity technology and science, biodiversity metrics, indices and proxies, applications and data sharing, and international conventions and frameworks.