New Delhi, August 28, 2026: CivicDataLab, with funding support from Lloyd’s Register Foundation, is leading a new initiative to strengthen climate resilience across vulnerable coastal regions in Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Coastal & Ocean Resilience Data Collaborative will focus on improving access to data and supporting evidence-based planning for coastal communities and infrastructure.
The initiative aims to address gaps in coastal resilience data, which is currently spread across public and private-sector institutions. It will develop an open-source online platform that brings together datasets covering coastal topography, oceanography, weather, socio-economic indicators, public finance and environmental conditions.
The project will combine data integration with AI and machine learning, institutional capacity building, peer learning and knowledge sharing. The platform is intended to help government and private-sector stakeholders identify risks, prioritise interventions, assess financing requirements and plan measures for long-term coastal resilience.
Gaurav Godhwani, Founder and CEO, CivicDataLab, said, “India's coastline is more than a boundary between land and sea. It is home to millions of people, critical ports and infrastructure, rich ecosystems, and some of the country's most important economic activity. Yet this coastline is under growing pressure. Around 34% of India's coastline is experiencing erosion, while coastal communities are increasingly exposed to cyclones, flooding, rising sea levels and other climate-related hazards. However, the data needed to understand and protect India’s coastline often remains fragmented and locked among various stakeholders. Through the Coastal & Ocean Resilience Data Collaborative, CivicDataLab aims to create a connective infrastructure that brings these critical datasets together, harnessing responsible AI to turn these datasets into actionable intelligence for local decision-making. By bringing together government, communities and other stakeholders, we hope to strengthen local capacity to anticipate risks, prioritise resource mobilisation and build resilience for our coastal communities.”
According to the initiative, around 560 million people live in India’s coastal areas, with many communities dependent on sectors such as fishing, aquaculture, trade and tourism. Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Kerala face particular exposure to coastal and climate-related risks.
The Collaborative will integrate government datasets with feedback from local stakeholders to provide a broader view of the links between community resilience, government spending and critical infrastructure. Advanced data analytics, AI and machine learning will then be used to develop insights and tools for local governments to improve risk assessments, support investment decisions and explore innovative financing for adaptation.
Tim Slingsby, Director of Skills and Education at Lloyd’s Register Foundation, said: “Communities in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala are on the climate and biodiversity frontline, increasingly exposed to higher temperatures, rising sea levels and more frequent and severe weather patterns. Failures in coastal and marine infrastructure systems caused by these hazards often have acute social and economic impacts due to increased dependency on maritime industries by local people.”
He added, “There’s an urgent need to strengthen community resilience and coastal and marine infrastructure planning through integrated, evidence-based strategies, rooted in local contexts. This new initiative with CivicDataLab will help support data-driven decision-making, mobilising resources to improve safety outcomes for a huge number of people in one of the world’s most important maritime economies.”
The initiative will therefore focus on connecting data, local participation and institutional capacity to support more informed coastal planning and climate adaptation across the three states.
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