SOCIB is a multi-platform, distributed and integrated system that will provide streams of oceanographic data, modelling services and new technologies to support operational oceanography in a European and international framework, therefore also contributing to the needs of marine and coastal research in the context of global change. In line with EuroGOOS, operational oceanography is here understood in a broad sense, including both the systematic long-term measurement of the seas and their interpretation and dissemination, and also the sustained supply of multidisciplinary data to cover the needs of a wide range of scientific research and societal priorities. This will enable a quantitative increase in our understanding of key questions on oceans and climate change, sea level rise, coastal ocean and nearshore processes, ecosystem variability and marine resources, marine safety, among others, and through the application and transfer of this knowledge, lead us towards a more integrated and science based coastal and ocean management.