UKMIC is a partnering between Industry, HigherEducation Institutions and Government. It aims to implement a coherentUK strategy in the marine instrumentation and marine informationservices sector - Marine Informatics. UKMIC was formed to implement therecommendations of the DTI sponsored Foresight Marine Panel. UKMICseeks to foster effective partnerships between academia, industry andgovernment.

UKMIC is promoting the establishment of a UK centre for OperationalOcean Monitoring and Forecasting. Long term monitoring and forecastingof the ocean environment is a pre-requisite for the effectivemanagement of the marine environment both at a global and local level.UKMIC seeks to support the development of the marine informationindustry. It has encouraged the development of a representative TradeAssociation for the sector, which has expanded to include EuropeanSMEs. To foster this sector UKMIC supports an “at retrieval cost”policy for access to publicly funded marine information.

UKMIC aims toensure that there is an adequate flow of qualified entrants into thesector. UKMIC is seeking to promote increased awareness of theseemployer requirements at Secondary School level and is creatingincentives to attract students to training which matches employerrequirements.