Although 70% of our planet is covered by the oceans, the ocean technology is not a widely discussed topic it (National Geographic, 2021). This should change as ocean technology could support climate and sustainability goals by encouraging a digital transformation of the ocean (MacDonald, 2021). In addition, this opportunity also creates new chances for business to grow and to show commitment to climate action.
The technological developments have created the opportunity to collect data and to investigate research about the underwater world. For instance, artificial intelligence and machine learning help analysing data, whereas blockchain technology supports the transparency and traceability of goods. Companies could combine these technologies in their business strategy. It provides the opportunity to keep track of CO2, fishing gear, and sea-life at a low cost to overcome huge problems concerning the excessive fishing industry, CO2 climate goals and plastic pollution.
As the ocean is complex, the society is trying to combine all these technologies to create a digital twin of the ocean (DTO), in order to support predictive movements, understand the ocean’s role and make better-informed decisions (MacDonald, 2021). According to Mayer (2021), the DTO could be seen as “a digital replica of a reference object that already exists in reality or can be foreseen to exist in the future”. Recently, several prototypes of the DTO have already been created with the goal to monitor, to create what-if scenarios and to analyse impact of preventive measures for climate risks (Marine Copernicus, 2020).
The latest developments have been made by Mercator Ocean International, as the company is the forefront of building global ocean models for at least the last two decades (Mercator Ocean International, 2021). Despite, the awareness of ocean technology remaining low, the Mercator Ocean International corporation also started developing a digital twin of the Earth (Mercator Ocean International, 2021).
In my opinion, more people should become aware of the existence of the DTO and the digital twin of the earth. In addition, people should start considering how this information acknowledged by this innovation might impact governance, customers, and entire industries. I believe that there is still a lot to learn from the ocean and we must embrace this opportunity to explore and discover the unknown to support the sustainable future.
References:
National Geographic (2021). Ocean. Viewed October 4, 2021. Retrieved from, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/ocean/
MacDonald K. (2021). Forbes. Digitalizing Our Oceans: New Roles for Tech Companies and Workers. Viewed October 4, 2021. Retrieved from, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/07/07/digitalizing-our-oceans-new-roles-for-tech-companies-and-workers/?sh=1fa36bfc109e
Marine Copernicus (2021). Ocean and its digital twin: what’s in for Copernicus Marina?. Viewed October 4, 2021. Retrieved from, https://marine.copernicus.eu/news/ocean-and-its-digital-twin-whats-copernicus-marine
Mayer, I. Planning for the Future–Towards a Virtual Twin of the Ocean.
Mercator Ocean International (2021). Digital Twin of the Ocean. Viewed October 4, 2021. Retrieved from, https://www.mercator-ocean.fr/digital-twin-ocean/
Hi Natascha,
First of all, I find this a very interesting article! I did not know that they were developing a digital ‘twin’ of the ocean, but it makes sense. Just like digitization making other aspects of our lives easier or even improving, this could be used to save the oceans.
Even though the oceans are here on earth, we know less about the oceans than the space around us. Learning more about this part of earth could help us, like you mention combat climate change and combat the damage that has been done by our fishing. Even though there are already being made efforts to cleaning the plastic soup and bettering the fishing industry incorporating digital solutions could have a greater impact. Also, the digital twin of the earth could be of great benefit in combating and hopefully reversing climate change, of which we are already seeing the changes. Also, besides the opportunities to benefit from these replicas, it is also interesting to see more of the marine life that still has to be discovered.