EOOS Technology Forum Report 2022

The Ocean is under pressure from human activities leading to an increase in temperature, acidification, deoxygenation, pollution and diversity loss. The recognition that action is urgently needed to reverse the decline in ocean health and to create the conditions for the sustainable development of the ocean led to the declaration of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (the Ocean Decade). The Ocean Decade, together with other important European initiatives such as the Green Deal and Horizon Europe, provide a framework to improve knowledge, build infrastructures, and foster trans-disciplinary relationships, towards sustainable management of our ocean and coasts for future generations. Scientific research and innovative technologies are crucial to achieving global sustainability and adequate stewardship of the ocean. They enable us to deepen our understanding and to respond to societal needs including a clean, healthy, and resilient ocean. Science, technology, data infrastructures and innovation activities are currently undergoing rapid changes that are transforming ocean research and innovation processes. Disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data or blockchain are starting to shape research and innovation cycles. Sustained ocean observations, essential to increase our understanding of the ocean and its functions, require a suite of increasingly efficient technologies and instruments to gather, store, transfer and process large volumes of ocean data. We need the capacity to incorporate new and better technologies into the observing systems as the readiness level increases to improve efficiency. However, it is also important that we help guide technological development to enable fit for purpose observations and outputs that address societal needs and that anticipate future requirements.he second edition of the EOOS Technology Forum was held from 22 to 24 March 2022 as a virtual foresight workshop endorsed as an UN Ocean Decade activity. focusing on foresight aspects of Ocean Observing technologies, data processing and handling techniques including Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The event was organised by EuroGOOS with the support and collaboration of the EU Horizon H2020 projects EuroSea and Minke. The workshop brought together over 120 participants from several continents for discussions on the technologies that will be needed to achieve two specific goals of the UN Decade for Ocean Science and Sustainable Development: The attendees, representing a broad mix of users and stakeholders from both the public and private domains, included instrument manufacturers, technicians, technologists, scientists and policymakers. The three-day workshop comprised several keynote addresses, panel discussions, high-level talks and Show-and-Tell presentations, with time allocated for audience interaction with speakers, panellists and presenters to facilitate a greater flow of information and ideas. A number of different subjects were explored. A session on the role of state-of-the-art and foreseeable technology in achieving Ocean Decade goals touched on the Marine Life 2030 programme, the Ocean Biomolecular Observing Network (OBON), marine litter monitoring and the “Digital Twin of the Ocean'' paradigm. Another session focussed on technology providers, with discussions on the current technological landscape, effective ways to achieve a distributed embedded, multi-parameter ocean observing network, and the establishment of a systematic and robust data value chain. The integration of multiple platforms and the potential of new platforms were pondered in detail, as well as the expected impacts of advances in the areas of cyberinfrastructure, Big Data, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) were also debated. The last session debated on what is the role of the EOOS technology forum in the framework of the UN Ocean Decade.