The format of IOCS-2017 meeting included:
- invited keynote talks,
- presentations from space agencies outlining the status of current and planned missions,
- a total of 9 breakout workshops to address current critical issues in ocean colour science and provide specific feedback to the space agencies,
- Copernicus session,
- NASA Ocean Color Science Team (OCRT) meeting,
- NOAA session,
- three poster sessions for participants to present their own research,
- Copernicus marine data stream training event on 19 May 2017
- One-day SeaDAS training workshop on 19 May 2017