The OceanX Summit 2026, held in Singapore, convened more than 750 participants, including 223 students and educators, to address a central challenge: how to transform ocean discovery into lasting change. Over three days, leaders from ocean science, government, exploration, education, and conservation examined ways to connect evidence with protection, immersive learning with engagement, and local leadership with scalable solutions. The summit underscored that ocean knowledge holds its greatest value when it is shared, understood, and applied.
Among the prominent voices were oceanographer Sylvia Earle, filmmaker and deep-sea explorer James Cameron, National Geographic Society CEO Jill Tiefenthaler, and representatives from teamLab, Snowflake, the High Seas Alliance, and conservation groups such as Coral Gardeners and the Coral Triangle Centre. Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong opened the event, and Minister for Education Desmond Lee highlighted the role of ocean exploration in student learning. A key takeaway was that artificial intelligence can help connect fragmented datasets but relies on high-quality information from underrepresented regions. Discussions also explored how public policy, private-sector expertise, and philanthropy can collaborate on marine protected areas while keeping coastal communities’ needs in view.
The science presented demonstrated tangible progress. The Into the Deep: Monsoon Rise expedition, jointly led by OceanX and the National University of Singapore, mapped over 8,300 square kilometres of seafloor in the eastern Indian Ocean, with approximately 2,000 specimens now contributing to ongoing biodiversity research. As countries implement the BBNJ Agreement on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, OceanX has committed a significant share of its 2027 expedition time to high seas research. Vincent Pieribone, OceanX’s lead scientist, stressed the need to collect more ocean data, connect information across disciplines, and make evidence accessible to decision-makers.
Education and storytelling emerged as powerful tools for building connection. Since 2024, Singapore’s partnership with OceanX through the Ministry of Education and Science Centre Board has enabled more than 570 students and educators to visit the research vessel OceanXplorer, with hundreds more joining ship-to-shore livestreams. The summit featured over 20 immersive installations developed by OceanX Education and its Changemaker community, illustrating how art, media, and technology can draw audiences into ocean stories. A conversation between Mark Dalio and Anderson Tanoto of Tanoto Foundation highlighted education pathways across Southeast Asia, including nine Tanoto Foundation scholars who have participated in OceanX’s Young Explorers programme. For more information on OceanX’s work, visit www.oceanx.org and follow OceanX on Facebook and Instagram.
Local leadership was a recurring theme, with Coral Gardeners founder Titouan Bernicot describing an island-led movement that has grown to 97 full-time employees and planted more than 250,000 corals across French Polynesia, Fiji, and Thailand. Other changemakers showcased AI for reef monitoring and immersive media to connect audiences with marine ecosystems. The summit concluded that local knowledge must shape conservation and that communities need a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their ocean. By linking cutting-edge science, immersive education, and community-driven action, the OceanX Summit 2026 set a collaborative agenda for safeguarding the ocean’s future.
