The past few weeks at Connecticut-based ThayerMahan have been full of introductions to global players who want to protect the world’s oceans. That’s because the 5-year-old company, which specializes in autonomous maritime surveillance, recently accepted an invitation to join the World Economic Forum’s Global Innovators Community – where it will help to develop the community’s Ocean Action Agenda. 
 

The World Economic Forum is a 50-year-old nonprofit headquarted in Geneva, Switzerland, that seeks to further public-private collaboration on issues that affect the whole world, such as climate change and environmental health. The forum’s Global Innovators Community is an invitation-only group of start-ups and scale-ups considered to be at the forefront of ethical technological and business innovation. And the Ocean Action Agenda is a project aimed at identifying and supporting initiatives to reverse the decline in the health of the oceans.  
 

“We were excited to be selected, as one of a handful of American companies to participate,” said Chief Operating Officer Richard Hine. “The idea is to connect us globally to other innovators in other countries – other thought leaders, academics, engineers, and companies large and small to solve all kinds of problems – from plastic pollution in the ocean to acoustic pollution that affects marine mammals to illegal fishing.” 
 

Concern for oceans was a big part of what led Hine, CEO Mike Connor and Chairman John Kao to create ThayerMahan in 2016, Hine noted, so the mission driving the Ocean Action Agenda aligns nicely with the company’s values.   
 

“We have a pretty interesting mix of young engineers and former Coast Guardsmen, former Navy folks – mostly submariners – who are just passionate about the ocean, period,” Hine said. “Some of us have spent decades of our life there, and we view it as an irreplaceable resource that needs to be protected and judiciously exploited. Whether (the uses) are for food or energy, or transportation and commerce, it’s just not to be taken lightly.” 
 

Hine also expressed enthusiasm for bringing the unique value of unmanned systems to bear on efforts to protect the oceans, particularly in the area of data collection. ThayerMahan’s has put autonomous technologies to work gauging the impact of industry noise pollution on endangered whale species, identifying ancient settlements of indigenous peoples on the ocean floor, and spotting unexploded ordnance, to name a few examples. 
 

“We can stay at sea for months on end with sensors and report back information in real time, and that permanent presence is inherently much safer and more affordable than (manned monitoring),” Hine said. “So we see ourselves as a potential great contributor to knowledge about the ocean.”