698 



12 



OVERARCHING PRINCIPLES OF PARTNERSHIPS 



(from The State-Federal Technology Partnerships Task Force Final Report, 1995J 



Shared Ownership - "The success of a ... partnership depends largely on each participant's long- 

 term commitment to, and sense of ownership in, the objectives of the venture, and an acceptance 

 by each of the shared responsibility necessary for achieving mutually acceptable outcomes" 



The Eddy Joint Industry Project (EJIP) (Appendix IV.A.) was an example of this concept 

 of shared ownership. In this case the federal government and oil industries saw the 

 benefit of sharing facilities and contributing their assets to a set of objectives meeting 

 each party's mission. Notably, each of the participants had their own specific set of 

 objectives. The merit of the partnership lay in the sharing of assets and the mutually 

 acceptable approaches. 



Broad Participation I Diversity of Interests - "A partnership is enriched, and the likelihood 

 of success improved, by broad representation of the interested parties in its design and 

 implementation. " 



Many examples of this kind of partnership exist within the oceanographic commuruty. 

 Two vastly different case studies are the MEDEA project (Appendix IV.B.) and the World 

 of Water Program (Appendix FV.C.). In the first case, which was a partnership of fixed 

 and limited duration, the participation included a broad base of academic researchers, 

 industry representatives and members of the research and operational components of 

 the US Navy. In fact, one could argue that the impetus for this activity was in the 

 breadth of potential interests. The World of Water Program included a diversity of 

 interests as represented by the participation of state government, non-profit 

 organizations, academia and the private sector. 



Champions I Advocates - "A successful ... partnership requires the demonstrated persorml 

 commitment of senior ... leaders" 



Some of the most successful partnerships in oceanographic education have been those 

 directly involving some highly visible individuals. One case in point is the JASON 

 Project (Appendix IV.D.). In this case, one scientist of celebrity status, E)r. Robert Ballard, 

 has been a persistent motivating force in the evolution of this program. The result has 

 been a dramatically increased awareness of marine issues by a huge audience of 

 students. His partnering with prominent industrial champions has been an element of 

 the success of this partnership. 



By the same token a classic example of a partnership which did not succeed due to a lack 

 of demonstrated commitment of senior leaders was the Institute of Naval Oceanography 

 (Appendix FV.E.). In this case, other principles for partnering were upheld (e.g. shared 

 ownership) but the apparent lack of champions served as a fatal flaw. 



