The U.S. National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative has identified the need for innovations to support straightforward, practical integration and communication with the wide variety of oceanographic instruments on observing platforms and networks, such as the North East Pacific Time-Series Undersea Networked Experiments (NEPTUNE) and the Monterey Accelerated Research Program (MARS). A discussion group of oceanographic instrument developers, users, and manufacturers formed in March 2005 as a first step toward the creation of a Marine Plug and Work Consortium.