Brussels – Three years ago, Ursula von der Leyen announced in Brest the goal of building a digital twin of the oceans. Today (9 June), the President of the European Commission presented a first demo version at the United Nations Conference on Oceans in Nice. “An extraordinary tool that helps us to better understand the ocean, from pollution to navigation, from risks to our coasts to biodiversity,” the EU leader exulted. It is an open-source tool, available to anyone.
Thousands of sensors scattered across the world’s waters, combined with satellite data provided by the Copernicus Earth Observation Service, will feed into this coherent, high-resolution, multidimensional, and near-real-time virtual replication of the ocean. The Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) will combine these ocean observations with innovative artificial intelligence techniques, enabling a deeper understanding of ongoing processes and the potential to hypothesise future scenarios through advanced machine learning methods. In presenting the EU Pact for the Oceans a few days ago, the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, announced a new strategy for ocean research and innovation that will be based precisely on the use of DTO. And which, at the same time, will fuel further developments.
In essence, a digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system designed to reflect the source object accurately. It covers its life cycle, is updated with real-time data, and uses simulation, machine learning, and reasoning to help make informed decisions—a revolutionary tool for policymakers and beyond. Citizens, companies, non-governmental organisations, and all users will be able to interactively access comprehensive information to assess the impact of potential interventions under different climate scenarios on the health of biodiversity, primary production, and conditions for the development of marine species.
The DTO was developed through two EU-funded projects, EDITO-Infra and EDITO Model Lab, coordinated by Mercator Ocean International, an organisation based in Toulouse, France. Almost a year ago, on 13 July 2024, the EU had already given a first taste when the then Commissioner for Innovation and Research, Iliana Ivanova, presented the DTO’s pre-operational platform at the Digital Ocean Forum. The Bulgarian Commissioner had called it a “game-changer in ocean management.” For example, this includes monitoring the impact of marine litter, seabed and coastal erosion, and the potential of offshore wind energy. Just to name a few.
Over the past two decades, digital twins have gained traction and are now widely utilised in various fields. For energy production systems—e.g. jet engines, turbines, drilling rigs—both during design and maintenance. They are used by several car manufacturers to improve vehicle performance and increase production efficiency. Moreover, digital twins can display 3D and 4D spatial data in real-time and incorporate augmented reality systems, which are particularly useful for civil engineers and those involved in urban planning activities. Since 31 March, there has even been Replica Italia, the ‘first digital twin of the Italian population’, the Peninsula’s digital twin that reproduces its entire demographic, social and behavioural structure.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
