The EMOD-PACE Project: strengthen international ocean data through the EU’s ocean diplomacy with China

On the 19th of February 2020, the EMOD-PACE project, ‘EMODnet PArtnership for China and Europe’ kicked-off officially with a meeting at the headquarters of the European External Action Service (EC-EEAS) in Brussels. This project aims to support EU’s ocean diplomacy with China by fostering international collaboration between the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) and the National Marine Data and Information System (NMDIS) in China. The success of the project will be dependent on the effective cooperation, dialogue and exchange between experts from the EU and China. The project is an important support for the implementation of global commitments through improved accessibility of ocean marine data and data products. It is funded as part of the Foreign Policy Instrument (FPI) of the European Commission, through EuropeAid/139904/DH/SER/CN.

Contaminant maps show the widespread, yet largely invisible, problem of contaminants in European seas

The set of maps provided by EMODnet Chemistry allow to display spatial data distribution and composition of contaminants based on data from 1970 to 2017, with a focus on the following contaminants: Anthracene, Benzo(a)pyrene, Cadmium, Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), Fluoranthene, Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), Lead, Mercury, Naphthalene and Tributyltin (TBT). This product is envisioned to provide a comprehensive information tool for marine policy and wider society, by forming the basis to find, understand, and interpret data about levels of marine pollution which is affecting us all. The product can be freely accessed through OceanBrowser in the EMODnet Chemistry portal and the specific web services (WMS, WFS) can be accessed through the Sextant catalogue.

EMODnet 2nd Open Conference and Jamboree -
Save the date: 21-25 September 2020!

Five years after the first edition, we are delighted to announce the second EMODnet Open Conference (21-23 September 2020) and Jamboree (23-25 September 2020). During this event, EMODnet partners, communicators and data providers/users will take stock of EMODnet achievements over the past 10 years, connect across stakeholder communities and set goals for the future. To start the week, the EMODnet Open Conference will focus on use cases and ocean data and observation requirements to develop essential open marine data services for blue economy actors, public sector, civil society and researchers. Save the date!

We welcome new EMODnet Associated Partners

We are pleased to welcome dotOcean and Raceix Ltd. as the first EMODnet Associated Partners in the year 2020!

dotOcean provides control units and software to automate vessels and seagoing systems by connecting them to a cloud SaaS platform. The control unit called ‘Automate Your Boat’ enables customers to build their own autonomous vessels, which are deployed to collect hydrographic, environmental and security data.

Raceix Ltd. is an early-stage Irish B2B company with offices in Munster, Ireland and Savannah, Georgia (USA). Raceix is developing ‘BoatingOS', an entirely new operating system which will power the next generation of chart-plotters; much like how Android works for smartphones.

We look forward to more exchanges and welcome dotOcean and Raceix Ltd. to the EMOD-network!

A new Technical Coordinator at the EMODnet Secretariat

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Dr Conor Delaney as new EMODnet Secretariat's Technical Coordinator. Conor is an environmental data scientist and has over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of applied environmental science and information technology, with an emphasis on geographical information systems and Earth observation and marine data. He was awarded the position of visiting research fellow at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission where he worked on maritime affairs with a particular focus on improving access to and utilisation of marine science data. Conor has also worked in the private sector as an environmental scientist and software engineer. He has an MSc in Environmental Science from Trinity College Dublin, and a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from National University of Ireland, Galway, of which he is an honorary member of faculty.

EMODnet - Look back and fast forward

For those of you who missed our overview of activities and developments we have planned in 2020, please have a look at our EMODnet New Year letter where we reflect on the past, take stock of our achievements and look forward to what 2020 will bring for our growing network of partners and users.

MARCH 2020