EMODnet formally kicked off its Vision 2035 activities in April 2024 with the first meeting of the EMODnet Vision 2035 Drafting Group, which is coordinating a Vision to 2035 of EMODnet’s service evolution. The Group consists of representatives from all EMODnet thematics, data ingestion, central portal and Secretariat, also including Sea-basin Checkpoint Coordinators, EMODnet Associated Partners and key actors from the EU and Global stakeholder community. A key input to the Vision 2035 will be a public consultation, planned for launch in early summer 2024, open to all. Stay tuned to have your say in EMODnet’s future evolution!

This year, the EGI federation of computing and storage resource providers are holding their annual EGI conference in Lecce, Italy, in collaboration with the CMCC Foundation from 30th September until 4th October 2024. Different contribution types are accepted (short and long talks, posters, and demonstrations) across a variety of topics. Deadline: 24th April, 2024. 

The Thalassa 2024 Marine Sciences Conference, organised by EMODnet Associated Partner the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), will take place on 28th-29th May 2024 in Larnaca, Cyprus. Registration is open until 15th April here.

BLOG #1 (March 2024): EMODnet’s technical state-of-the-art as a unified Portal. The EMODnet EC in situ marine data service is enabled by a large expert community of technical experts in thematic data, data and web services, data ingestion and more. One year on from the launch of EMODnet’s unified Portal, EMODnet launches a technical blog that brings the technical developments and achievements of the EMOD-network to the forefront, championed by EMODnet’s Technical Coordinator, Conor Delaney. The blog is intended for wider stakeholders who use and/or contribute to EMODnet and would like to know more about the latest state-of-the-art in EMODnet services. The technical blog will be released quarterly.

EMODnet was well represented at the Oceanology International 2024 and European Ocean Observing System (EOOS) Technology Forum that took place back-to-back in mid-March 2024 in London, UK. EMODnet Physics, Chemistry, Data Ingestion and wider experts were on-site, complementing a pan-EMODnet feature article in the Hydro International magazine that accompanied the OI 2024 event. 

The Digital Ocean Forum (DOF) 2024 takes place on 13th June 2024, from 10:00 to 16:30 CET at the Palace of the Academies in Brussels. This high-level gathering will be hybrid and open to the public and will feature the prototype of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO), powered by EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service via EDITO. The DOF 2024 Forum will showcase the capabilities of the EU DTO as a Commission public service, building on existing EU marine data service capability and demonstrating the European DTO's role as an additional asset to drive applications and solutions for ocean resource management, ocean and climate change and a green transition and sustainable operations for the Blue Economy. Discover how the EU DTO aligns with the Green Deal and the UN Decade of Science for Sustainable Development.

EMODnet Data Ingestion, in collaboration with EMODnet Thematic Coordinators and the Secretariat, have produced an EMODnet Guidance document on European project data submissions to EMODnet. This is an output from the webinar 'EMODnet for Horizon Europe and Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters' on 28th February 2024, organised by EMODnet, in collaboration with EC DG MARE.

Four short months ago, the EMODnet community gathered in Brussels for the EMODnet Open Conference and Jamboree 2023 Re-immerse yourself in the energy and insights of the Conference plenary, panel discussions, townhalls and networking, and get a snapshot of EMODnet’s rich and diverse network and valued stakeholders, all in the newly released EMODnet OC 2023 highlights video!  This video complements the Conference Report that was released earlier this year. The Conference Virtual Exhibition remains open until November 2024.

EMODnet experts from across the network will be in Barcelona for the week-long UN Ocean Decade Conference 2024, 8th-12th April. You will find us in the official Conference exhibition area in a joint booth of EMODnet, Copernicus Marine Service and the Ocean Prediction Decade Coordination Centre, and at numerous side events spanning Digital Twins of the Ocean, Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPS), Ocean Observing, Private sector data sharing, Sea Level Rise and more.

The 2024 EOOS Technology Forum “Catching the momentum in ocean observing technology: optimising value and data provision”, will take place on the 13 March 2024 at the Oceanology International, Excel, London. The 2024 EOOS Technology Forum will bring together technology developers, manufacturers and users to exchange knowledge on platforms and sensors of all types, costs and levels of technical sophistication with the goal to enhance accessibility of ocean observations.

At the first joint webinar on ‘Data and information management and sharing in the Decade: why, who, what and how?’ co-organised by the Decade Coordination Office for Ocean Data Sharing (DCO-ODS) and IODE on 31 January, Vicente Fernandez (EMODnet Secretariat), highlighted EMODnet as an important regional node contributing to ocean data sharing and interoperability to the global ocean data ecosystem, and its contribution, together with Copernicus Marine Service, to the establishment of the public infrastructure backbone for the European digital representation of the Ocean.

On 28th February 2024, EMODnet hosted a webinar titled “EMODnet for Horizon Europe and EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters.” This invitation-only webinar was attended by over 95 participants representing at least 45 EU projects. Organised by the EMODnet Secretariat, Data Ingestion and thematics, in collaboration with DG MARE and CINEA, the webinar focused on how EMODnet can support European Research and Innovation (R&I) projects, including the use of EMODnet’s marine knowledge in EU R&I, demonstrations of the EMDOnet Data Ingestion workflow, and guidance on how R&I projects can optimize the collection, curation and submission of FAIR data and metadata to EMODnet services, and its large userbase.

More data from the Pacific Ocean (New Zealand area) is now available through EMODnet. EMODnet Physics increased the amount of data available from this region via the collaboration with MetOcean Solutions, the MOANA project and the Fishing Vessel Ocean Observing Network. With MOANA historical and near-real-time ocean temperature and salinity data are collected through affordable novel technology to get more observations in New Zealand’s coastal seas, and making existing ocean observations available to everyone. MOANA developed a small, smart temperature sensor which can be attached to commercial fishing gear delivering more data useful to increase ocean observations in this region helping modelling our oceans better.

Discover the latest insights on how EMODnet's marine data and data product offerings can serve as a foundation for essential ocean knowledge and the crucial role of EMODnet's Data Ingestion service in supporting seamless data submission to both the European and global ocean data ecosystem, at the upcoming “EMODnet for Horizon Europe and EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters projects" webinar on February 28, 2024, from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM. Aimed at representatives of European Horizon Europe and EU Mission Ocean projects collecting in situ marine data, the webinar focuses on streamlining data submission processes, guiding participants in data and metadata collection, and optimizing data flow into EMODnet. For more details and to express your interest in participating, please send an email to: secretariat@emodnet.eu.

Between 20th – 28th January at Boot Düsseldorf 2024, the German Ocean Foundation, EC DG MARE, EMODnet and the Scuba Schools International (SSI) unveiled the largest Ocean Citizen Science Initiative to-date, which sees divers and wider water sports enthusiasts collecting ocean data using low-cost, high-quality sensors, with in situ data being made available through EMODnet as the EC marine data service. EMODnet Physics is the driving force behind this collaboration on behalf of the EMOD-network.

Starting in this edition, we are launching a news section dedicated to EMODnet's key role in the European Digital Twin Ocean (DTO). EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service collaborate in the EDITO-Infra project which is upgrading EC marine data services to provide the backbone infrastructure to the EU DTO. At the heart of EDITO-Infra's technical advancements lies the establishment of a comprehensive data lake. This innovative feature seamlessly integrates both EMODnet and Copernicus Marine products. Leveraging cutting-edge, open-source technologies from the cloud computing industry, the data lake offers robust and scalable object storage, coupled with high-performance computing (HPC) resources. This combination is pivotal for enabling on-demand data analysis and the creation of sophisticated 'what-if' scenarios. Stay tuned for more information.

The EDITO initiative, powered by EDITO-Infra, extends an invitation to ocean twinning projects and national initiatives throughout Europe. The primary focus of this initiative is to enhance the capabilities of the European Digital Twin Ocean (EU DTO). Successful participants will have a unique opportunity to showcase their work at the high-level dedicated session during the Digital Ocean Forum 2024.

On 1 December 2023, the EMODnet Steering Committee met in Brussels to exchange on EMODnet operations, strategic partnerships and plan upcoming events and activities in 2024, ranging from the EMODnet webinar for EU Mission and Horizon Europe on 28th February 2024 to EMODnet’s contribution to the UN Ocean Decade Conference 2024 and Digital Ocean Forum 2024. The meeting took place directly after the EMODnet Open Conference and Jamboree 2023.

Save the Date for our upcoming webinar designed to help guide EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters and Horizon Europe projects to harmonise and submit their data to EMODnet. The webinar will take place online on 28 February 2024, 11am-12:30pm CET. Join in the dialogue with EMODnet experts on how to optimise your project output. More information and registration to follow soon in January 2024!

The primary goal of the MARTECH Workshop is to exchange knowledge and perspectives on advanced research in various domains of marine technology through diverse categories. This includes a workshop on Seafloor observatories and sensor networks, co-organized by EMODnet Physics. You can find all information on pre-registration and the extended deadline for abstract submissions, now due by January 15th on the workshop website by clicking on the link below.