Colohan Becomes the First Executive Director of the Internet of Water

We are pleased to announce that Peter Colohan will be the first Executive Director to lead the Internet of Water, working to realize the vision of connecting water data for sustainability. Peter comes to us from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) where he served as the Director of Service Innovation and Partnership at the Office of Water Prediction.

“This is a wonderful development for the Internet of Water and the broader water community,” said Jerad Bales, an Advisory Board member for the Internet of Water and Director of the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI). “Peter brings expertise in building coalitions, understands the landscape of water issues inside and out, and has worked extensively in the public sphere on water policy and to support open water data. CUAHSI looks forward to working with Peter to advance the Internet of Water.”

As the Executive Director, Peter will be responsible for leading the Internet of Water’s efforts to build and strengthen connections between water data providers, support making public data more discoverable and accessible, and empower its use for decision making. We are confident Peter’s expertise and experience will enable him to successfully carry out the vision and mission of the Internet of Water.

“I’m honored to be selected as the first Executive Director of the Internet of Water,” said Colohan. “It’s time to liberate all these water data sets from their digital prisons and put them to work for us. More importantly, it’s time to bring people and institutions together to collaborate, using shared water data as a starting place for addressing shared water challenges.”

Peter’s position at NOAA is a testament to his familiarity with domestic water and data services shown through his work with the National Water Model. The National Water Model is a major effort to integrate streamflow, critical infrastructure, and demographic data to forecast streamflow and provide decision-support tools for emergency management, water resource management, transportation, agriculture, and energy sectors.

Prior to NOAA, Peter served as the Executive Officer and U.S. Program Manager for the Group on Earth Observations, an intergovernmental body dedicated to the global exchange of data and information, from its conception in 2003 to 2010. This position highlighted his unique, and early role, leadership, and experience in building network-based organizations and partnerships around data.

To learn more about the Internet of Water, visit the about page.