How can we increase accessibility to land-sea interface data near river mouths? This was the focus of the meeting chaired by EMODnet and +ATLANTIC CoLAB in Lisbon on 8 November. Portugal was chosen as the venue because the Portuguese Environment Agency is a leader in providing river outflow data to EMODnet. One of EMODnet's most important national oceanographic data centres, the Hydrographic Institute of Portugal, is also located there. EMODnet plays a key role in supporting the interoperability and accessibility of data at national level through its capillary network of organisations specialising in data management and through its data infrastructure and services.

The EMODnet Geology consortium convened in Trondheim, Norway on 4-8 November 2024, hosted by the Geological Survey of Norway. Bringing together around 50 delegates from over 20 organisations, key discussions included updates on recent and ongoing developments to enhance the existing offer of harmonised marine geological data products, which are critical as stand-alone resources, and as input to cross-thematic products e.g., seabed habitat maps. Other interesting topics included the upcoming coastal resilience data product, geotechnical data, perspectives from producing seamless seabed maps from Norway, and use case stories related to windfarm work in Iceland and the Geological Service for Europe (GSEU) project.

EMODnet Seabed Habitats provides a single access point to European seabed habitat data and unique products like the EUSeaMap broad-scale seabed habitat map for Europe, with diverse uses from produces aiding marine spatial planning to supporting marine habitat assessments. EMODnet has recently updated a storymap which visually illustrates the data and data products available from EMODnet Seabed Habitats on the EMODnet Portal.

Mark your calendars for the 4th edition of the EMODnet Open Sea Lab (OSL) Hackathon, happening online from 25 to 27 March 2025. The hackathon builds on the last 3 successful editions, with one key difference: In addition to using EMODnet services, participants will be given unparalleled access to the EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service offer via the European Digital Twin Ocean infrastructure (EDITO). This is a very exciting time for marine digital services, and we invite all interested stakeholders, from data scientists to IT specialists and from policy makers to researchers, students and the private sector to join EMODnet in this unique hackathon - Stay tuned for more details, coming soon!

At the Ocean Best Practices Workshop VIII, held from October 14-18, 2024, EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service collaborated to present best practices for enhancing data and service interoperability within the European Digital Twin of the Ocean (EU DTO). During the session on 16 October 2024, EMODnet Biology Coordinator Joana Beja (VLIZ) presented on its conventions used, with wider discussions on critical standards for data integration, focusing on the EDITO-Infra project, which aims to create a robust EU infrastructure supporting the EU DTO.

Your Feedback Matters! EMODnet continues to evolve to better serve your needs. Our survey is designed to gather your valuable feedback on our services. Whether you have spotted a technical bug, or you visited to search for the latest data products or use cases, we want to hear from you! Your input is crucial in enhancing our website's user-friendliness and usability. Share your thoughts and help us improve your EMODnet experience by filling out our survey!

Between 7-9 October 2024, EMODnet Coordinators and wider experts convened in Brussels, Belgium, for a series of EMODnet governance meetings. The 21st EMODnet Steering Committee (SC) open session was attended by diverse representatives of the EC and EU agencies, including CINEA, EC DG MARE, DEFIS, ENV and RTD. Discussions included EMODnet for EU Policy, the EC Ocean Observation Initiative and the EMODnet Vision 2035. This was followed by the 16th EMODnet Technical Working Group, with representatives from the EMODnet Central Portal technical team, thematic and data ingestion experts, EC DG MARE and CINEA (featured in the group photo). The following day, EMODnet held a planning meeting for its upcoming 4th Open Sea Lab Hackathon which will take place in Spring 2025.

On 30th September AM the EMODnet Vision 2035 Drafting Group came together online for its 3rd meeting. High on the agenda was digesting the stakeholder responses to the public survey which took place mid July - mid September 2024, and targeted consultations with EMODnet Associated Partners and Sea-basin Checkpoints. The VDG also held interactive discussions to further define key priorities for EMODnet's service evolution according to key pillars spanning EMODnet digital services to EMODnet for Policy.

Register for the second webinar in the EU Ocean Data Series titled "Science and Solutions for a Clean, Healthy, and Resilient Ocean" co-organised by EUMETSAT, Copernicus Marine Service, EMODnet and ECOPs on 10 October 2024 at 14:30 Central Europe Time. This webinar will delve into how Earth observation, and modeled marine data are being used to support the UN Ocean Decade initiative. Key topics include understanding and combating marine pollution, protecting and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity, and unlocking ocean-based solutions to climate change. Join leading experts as they discuss innovative approaches to sustainable ocean management and explore how data is driving a healthier and more resilient ocean. More information and registration: https://eudata4oceandecade.eu/ 

In this third instalment of EMODnet's technical blog series, Dr. Conor Delaney, EMODnet Technical Coordinator delves into ERDDAP^TM, a cutting-edge data server technology, explaining how this technology was used in the centralisation of EMODnet and how it continues to enhance data accessibility for users. Developed by NOAA, ERDDAP is Open-Source software that facilitates data access to large and complex scientific datasets and interoperability across international borders.

In July 2024 EMODnet launched a 2-month public consultation for the EMODnet Vision 2035. The consultation is open to all EMODnet stakeholders and the broader community, both in Europe and globally. Whether you are responding as an individual, organization, network, project, or initiative, your input is valuable. Have your say before 11 September 2024 Midnight CEST!

On 3 July 2024 from 2:00-3:00 PM CEST, BLUEMISSIONAA will host the Atlantic & Arctic Weekly Hour featuring the European Digital Twin Ocean (EDITO). In this webinar, Dr. Conor Delaney, European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet), will showcase the successful centralization of EMODnet and demonstrate how to find and download the data products of EMODnet. In addition, the role of EMODnet in the European Digital Twin Ocean infrastructure project (EDITO-Infra) will be described and attendees will get an understanding of what functionalities are available. EDITO-Infra is a joint EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service project to publish their respective data products on a common Data Lake that will provide fast, robust and scalable data access and computation and can be used for building Digital Twins of the Ocean.

Join us on 22 October 2024 for the EMODent for Business online workshop "Marine data for ports, marinas and boating". The workshop will demonstrate the EMODnet service for the ports, marinas and boating industry sectors including how these Blue Economy sectors can further use and benefit from EMODnet, together with opportunities for data sharing. The workshop is by invitation only. To express interest to attend, please contact: emodnet4business@emodnet.eu

On 19 June 2024, EMODnet, Copernicus Marine Service, EUMETSAT and ECOPS delivered a joint webinar on Marine Data for the UN Ocean Decade: A European focus. Attracting > 300 registrations from ocean professionals spanning early to later career, and from many nations in Europe and beyond, the webinar showcased EU earth observation capacity, and EC marine data services that offer in situ and satellite marine data, open for all.

In early June 2024, the prototype European Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) EDITO-Infra platform was presented to the marine ecosystem modelling community by the EMODnet Technical Coordinator, Conor Delaney. The session “Data Lakes for Ecosystem Modelling” took place in the context of a wider Conference "Ecopath 40 Years – The Ecosystem Continuum: From Knowledge to Decisions", organized by the European Marine Board, held in Ostend, Belgium, from 3-8 June 2024.

Your Feedback Matters! EMODnet continues to evolve to better serve your needs. Our survey is designed to gather your valuable feedback on our services. Whether you have spotted a technical bug, or you visited to search for the latest data products or use cases, we want to hear from you! Your input is crucial in enhancing our website's user-friendliness and usability. Share your thoughts and help us improve your EMODnet experience by filling out our survey. 

EMODnet has published the presentations and minutes of the EMODnet 20th Steering Committee (SC), now available on the EC Maritime Forum. The event took place online on 29-30 April 2024. The open session included the EMODnet SC, Technical Working Group (TWG), and representatives from the EC (multiple DGs) and EU agencies. Key discussions focused on EMODnet’s service evolution, and EMODnet for EU Policy, with a session chaired by Rémy Denos, EC DG MARE and involving DG DEFIS, DG ENV, JRC and EEA, among others. Updates on thematic data, user uptake, and portal developments were presented. The closed session covered the EMODnet communication strategy, use cases, partnerships, and planning for Open Sea Lab 4.0. 

In Spring 2024 EMODnet launched a technical blog, championed by the EMODnet Technical Coordinator Conor Delaney, to update EMODnet's diverse user community on latest service developments. This latest blog (#2 in the series) focuses on the EMODnet Map viewer, explaining how this key tool can be used to discover EMODnet's diverse offer of marine environmental and human activities data and data products and the latest features and functionalities, from map projections to visualisations. Dive in and discover EMODnet!

2023 was a milestone year for EMODnet with the unification of thematic services, the OSL 3.0 Hackathon, the EMODnet Open Conference 2023 and much more! Learn more in the EMODnet Annual Report 2023, now published. This provides a comprehensive overview of the EMODnet service’s main achievements in 2023, user metrics and key facts and figures, thematic offer updates including new data products, new coverage for the Caribbean Sea and Caspian Sea, EMODnet data ingestion, EMODnet for the European Digital Twin Ocean, wider EU and global partnerships and EMODnet’s key role in the EC communication tool European Atlas of the Seas, etc.

EMODnet has multiple oral and poster presentations at the International Conference on Marine Data and Information Systems (IMDIS) taking place in Bergen, Norway, and online on 27th-29th May 2024. Join the large SeaDataNet, EMODnet and wider data management community for the latest developments in this space. Registration is open (early bird rate by 15th April).