International Hydrographic Organization
The IHO was established in 1921 as the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB). The present name was adopted in 1970 as part of a new international Convention on the IHO adopted by the then member nations. The former name International Hydrographic Bureau was retained to describe the IHO secretariat until 8 November 2016, when a revision to the Convention on the IHO entered into force. Thereafter the IHB became known as the "IHO Secretariat", comprising an elected Secretary-General and two supporting Directors, together with a small staff of 17, at the Organization's headquarters in Monaco.
Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans
In March 1999, the Directors of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the Southampton Oceanography Centre in the UK, convened a planning meeting in the headquarters of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation (IOC-UNESCO) in Paris. This meeting confirmed the value of creating a new partnership and defined the initial mission statement and terms of reference.