Ocean Sciences Meeting 2026 (OSM26) stood out for its impressive scale and the breadth of topics covered, spanning diverse scientific disciplines, technologies, and infrastructures, including highly specialised niche areas. Despite this diversity, a unifying tread was woven throughout the meeting: the central role of open data. Across sessions, it became clear that progress in all these areas is strongly enabled by transparent, accessible data sharing. OSM26 featured numerous contributions highlighting this need, a few of which are outlined below.

The GOOS Observations Coordination Group showcased how interconnected regional data services, supported by standardised minimum metadata requirements, are essential for ensuring the long-term traceability of ocean observations. The Digital Twins of the Ocean session illustrated how integrating observations, models, and machine learning can deepen understanding of ocean variability, while simultaneously incentivising researchers to share their data in support of these advances. The BIO-GO-SHIP team was recognised for its efforts in delivering sustained, open-access biological data from the open ocean.

In addition, the American Geophysical Union hosted a well-attended session on technical skills for publishing data and code, reflecting strong interest from researchers eager to develop competencies that will benefit them throughout their careers. Finally, the Southern Ocean Observing System organised a session on open science and data in polar research. This session highlighted persistent challenges in data sharing, but also revealed an encouraging cultural shift: many participants viewed the publication of research data as being at least as important as the publication of scientific articles.

The Author of this Article Petra ten Hoopen (British Antarctic Survey)