Support for establishing regional (sea-basin) components of the EU Digital Twin of the Ocean (EU DTO) within the EDITO core infrastructure to enable local digital twin applications that address region-specific priorities. Projects will aggregate and publish regional data and models, develop tailored services for policy and Blue Economy needs, and produce what‑if scenario libraries with confidence assessments. Indicative EU contribution per project is estimated at EUR 4.00–4.85 million; the topic is implemented as Innovation Actions and aims for balanced coverage across the Mission basins.
Proposals should establish regional components within the EDITO core infrastructure of the EU Digital Twin of the Ocean (EU DTO). These regional components should foster the development of local digital twins’ applications: customized digital tools designed to address the unique priorities of specific local stakeholder communities. For each sea-basin (one project per lighthouse), the objective is to: – Identify, aggregate and integrate existing regional data (through EMODnet), tools, modelling and local digital twin assets that are not yet widely public (including inland waters assets that are relevant for the integrated source-to-sea approach with emphasis on land-sea connections [1] ) and take the necessary action to make them available through EDITO, following all necessary interoperability and standardisation protocols. Under-represented data types (biologging, acoustic telemetry, etc.) are of particular interest; – Develop regional digital twin services (tailored applications and services that address region-specific challenges, including for instance small islands challenges, coastal resilience, biodiversity conservation and restoration, pollution, climate change adaptation, fisheries and aquaculture and other sectors of the blue economy). These services should target both policy relevant questions and questions related to the development of a regional sustainable and competitive Blue Economy. To support predictive capacities, regional digital twin developments should in particular look for the integration of long-term ecological and biodiversity monitoring datasets, ensuring that modelling and scenarios are grounded in empirical, time-series observations; – Foster regional stakeholder engagement (regional authorities, regional sea conventions, industry partners, and local communities) to bring in existing assets (databases, local or regional models) co-design and validate digital twin applications for effective policy-making and operational decision support; – Improve intensive adoption of innovative algorithms of Artificial Intelligence and big data management; – Through the aforementioned engagement, and via co-creation processes, develop a range of what-if-scenarios, assess their confidence levels and identify actions towards the improvement of said confidence. [1] For instances assets identified in the IDEATION CSA and funded under “HORIZON-MISS-2023-OCEAN-01-09 towards the integration of inland waters into the Digital Twin Ocean”. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101157371
1. Integration of regional and local data, models and digital twin assets into the EDITO core infrastructure via EMODnet and interoperability standards; 2. Development of regional digital twin services for policy support, coastal resilience, biodiversity conservation, pollution control, fisheries, aquaculture and other Blue Economy sectors; 3. Source-to-sea and inland‑waters integration to address land‑sea connections and regional-specific environmental drivers; 4. Use of long-term ecological and biodiversity monitoring time-series to ground predictive modelling and scenario development; 5. Application of AI and big-data management techniques to enhance predictive capacity and operational decision support; 6. Co-design and stakeholder engagement with regional authorities, sea conventions, industry and local communities to validate applications and support policy implementation; 7. Creation of regional what‑if scenario libraries with confidence thresholds to guide management and monitoring.
