The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) is an international cooperation, organized by the UN UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), to coordinate global co-operation in the study of the ocean.

• Since 1990, efforts toward a U.S. national ocean observing system have been developing among twelve federal agencies with ocean responsibilities through the creation of the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP) to allow interagency cooperation and participation in collaborative observing efforts.
• In 2000, the National Ocean Research Leadership Council (NORLC), the NOPP governing body, established the interagency Ocean.US office to implement the U.S. GOOS, the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).

In response to the Pew Oceans and the U.S. Ocean Commission reports, President Bush signed an executive order on December 17, 2004 establishing a Secretarial-level Committee on Ocean Policy within the Executive Office of the President. This set into motion the important process of developing and implementing a new national ocean policy, including the development of an operational, integrated and sustained ocean observing system.