About us

OconEco was founded by John O'Connor. John began designing and managing decision-support systems in 1964 at the IMF, just before computerization. In 1986, he transferred to the World Bank as Chief of Comparative Analysis and Data, He now taps his extensive network of experts as needed on aspects of wealth creation. His core team includes experts in 'big data' and business accounting. 

John's current focus is Multi-Local Analytics (M-LA); a smart grid for decentralized, market-oriented allocation of real as well as financial resources. As proof-of-concept, he led the design of wealth metrics for sciGaia's TrueView metrics and was primary author of Montana's Renewable Portfolio (2015).

Mr. O'Connor co-founded Gaia Metrics (2010-13) to help corporations gauge upside opportunities as well as downside risks in intangibles and 'free' ecoservices. Its products included

• SDR Data Prep, mining corporate websites to streamline sustainability reports, whether devised by clients (often implicitly, by their internet and intranet content) or 'standards' like the Global Reporting Initiative and Integrated Reporting; 
• Co-marketing partnership with CSRwire, which offered CSR QuickStart™;
  
• Benchmarking a client's sustainability indicators by comparators in its 10-K and industry norms. This led to a presentation on Industry Shared Value metrics at a 2011 Sustainable Brands conference at Wharton; and Trust Meltdown - II (pp. 74-6) describing Gaia Metrics as a  "powerful combination, as well as a catalysing factor in improving financial reporting."

Earlier, Mr. O'Connor was team lead advising on wealth assessment for Abu Dhabi's Environment Agency, on The Emirate sustainability framework (2007-9). He co-chaired a conference with Ismail Serageldin on Sustainable Development Indicators (SDI) and Metrics at the Biblioteca Alexandria (2009). He assessed the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization's institution's forecasting methodology and integration of projections with historical data systems (2006). To learn more about 'bottom up' decision making and stakeholder engagement, he served as a senior researcher at the Florida Center for Environmental Studies (1996-1999), in the initial stage of The Everglades Project.  

John spent his early career (1964-95) designing and managing decision support systems at Bretton Woods institutions, including senior staff positions in each. As Senior Advisor in the World Bank's Environment Department (1992-5), John created/managed its environmental indicator system and was manager/primary author of Monitoring Environmental Progress, which pioneered modern wealth metrics. It is updated and refined regularly by the Bank, most recently as The Changing Wealth of Nations 2021: Managing Assets for the Future. As Bank Chief of Comparative Analysis and Data (1986-92), he overhauled the Bank's decision support system for financial preferences, etc.; including complications as historically planned economies became members (see World Bank publication here and US National Research Council work here).

In 1985, John was IMF External Debt Advisor to Bolivia. He had created and managed an IMF monitoring system for international banking (1982-84). Earlier, he served in the IMF European Department and worked in Research & Statistics as 'knowledge broker' between systems experts and economists, e.g., on creating historical and projections data systems (1964-85) and revision of the UN System of National Accounts (UNSNA, 1968 and 1992 versions).

John is writing a book, My Life in Numbers: Bretton Woods and Beyond. It is his take on events from when he was born, a week after Normandy and while the real work on the Bretton Woods was under way in Atlantic City NJ; through when he and the IMF turned 20 and John joined the IMF; to his views of how the world can be a better place when he turns 100. Briefly, it will discuss:

• 1944-1964  Post-War schism among central authorities
• 1963-1968  Decolonization
• 1969-1979  Rise of oil wealth & collapse of Bretton Woods centrism
• 1980-1987  External debt crises
• 1984-1989  Collapse of central planning & Soviet centrism
• 1990-1995  Discovering sustainable development
• 1996-2005 Shedding stranded assets to enable 'smart grids'
• 2006-2011  Build it and they will come
• 2012-2016  Can the center hold?
• 2018-2020 Disruption is a two-edged sword
• 2021-2044 Repair & maintain Social Infrastructure 

Draft chapters will be previewed on this website.