The event, taking place on 15 June at the Breydel Auditorium, will be hybrid, and open to the public.

To join this hybrid event and participate:

• In-person: Sign-up to join us, in-person, at the Breydel Auditorium

• Online: please register and login to this platform to follow the web stream

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About the event

The European Digital Twin of the Ocean (EU DTO), announced by President von der Leyen at the One Ocean Summit in Brest, will be a key deliverable of the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters. Its purpose is to provide Ocean communities with actionable knowledge and to support them in their daily decisions and planning, to ensure a healthy and sustainable Ocean.

The Digital Ocean Forum 2023 will bring together experts, stakeholders, policymakers and interested citizens in the co-design and co-creation of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean.

The purpose of this event is to collaborate with stakeholders in defining the goals and aspirations that can be accomplished by setting up a robust EU Digital Twin Ocean (DTO). We will deliberate on ethical considerations, explore opportunities to leverage the DTO to address challenges such as the marine implications of climate change and biodiversity loss, and examine how the DTO can aid in policymaking and decision-making to promote a sustainable blue economy.

The objectives public session will:

• Present the EU DTO vision and report on progress to date

• Provide a short input from a technical workshop, held on 14 June, featuring esteemed experts from approximately 50 invited research projects to gather their views on the development of the EU DTO, methods for potential contributions

• Engage in forward looking discussion on how the EU DTO should serve Ocean communities and actors, how it should evolve, and how it will affect policy and decision making

This event is co-organised with Mercator Ocean International and the Flanders Marine Institute

Background

The development of the EU DTO core infrastructure has been entrusted to the main operators of the Copernicus Marine Service and to the manager of EMODnet Central Portal, respectively Mercator Ocean International (Moi) and the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), through the EDITO-Infra action. A number of other actions contribute to the developments. See more here: European Digital Twin of the Ocean (European DTO) (europa.eu)

The Digital Ocean Forum 2023 builds on the first edition, organised by Mercator Ocean under the auspices of the French Presidency of the EU, in collaboration with the European Commission, the Flanders Marine Institute and the ILIAD project.

Source: EU