In a bid to revolutionise our understanding of the oceans and tackle pressing environmental challenges, the European Union is gearing up to unveil a groundbreaking project known as the Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO). This initiative, set to debut at the Digital Ocean Forum, aims to harness the power of marine data, models and artificial intelligence, to create virtual replicas of our seas, offering policymakers, businesses and society at large unprecedented insights into ocean dynamics and ecosystem health, and decision support tools for their sustainable management.
What is the DTO set to achieve?
At its core, the DTO seeks to empower decision-makers with science-based tools to address a myriad of issues, from combatting plastic pollution to safeguarding endangered species and bolstering the resilience of coastal infrastructure against natural hazards like meteotsunamis. By integrating data from various European scientific bodies, including Copernicus Marine and the organisations comprising the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet), along with many contributions from other universities and research centers, the DTO will serve as a comprehensive repository of European marine knowledge, freely accessible to all.
The Euronews Ocean Calls Podcast
In this episode of the Euronews Ocean Calls podcast, experts break this all down and explain what end-users will actually see and how they will act on this new information. The end results? Cleaner seas, thriving wildlife and safer harbours.
You can listen to the full episode here.