Digital Ocean Forum 2024

The Digital Ocean Forum (DOF) 2024 takes place on 13th June 2024, from 10:00 to 16:30 CET at the Palace of the Academies in Brussels. This high-level gathering will be hybrid and open to the public and will feature the prototype of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO), powered by EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service via EDITO. It will take place under the auspice of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU.

The DOF 2024 Forum will showcase the capabilities of the EU DTO as a Commission public service, building on existing EU marine data service capability and demonstrating the European DTO's role as an additional asset to drive applications and solutions for ocean resource management, ocean and climate change and a green transition and sustainable operations for the Blue Economy. Discover how the EU DTO aligns with the Green Deal and the UN Decade of Science for Sustainable Development.

The event will bring together experts from EMODnet, Copernicus Marine Service, policymakers, European projects, wider stakeholders and interested citizens to take part in the co-design and co-creation of the European DTO.

To join this hybrid event and participate: 

• In-person: register here to join us, in-person, at the Breydel Auditorium

• Online: please sign up to this platform to follow the web stream

President von der Leyen announced, on the occasion of the One Ocean Summit in Brest, in February 2022, that, under the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters, the European Union would build a Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO) by end of 2024.  

The European Digital Twin of the Ocean will unlock the door to knowledge and its translation into actions: it is a digital co-creation place at the crossroad of different disciplines. Its purpose is to provide Ocean communities, citizens, coastal actors, scientists, and policymakers worldwide, with actionable knowledge and to support them in their daily decisions and planning, to ensure a healthy and sustainable Ocean. 

The Digital Ocean Forum 2024 will be the occasion to unveil the prototype of the EU DTO and to showcase what the EU DTO, as a Commission public service, can do for the sustainable development of our blue economies and the management of our ocean resources, as well as how it contributes to the implementation of the Green Deal and the UN Decade of Science for Sustainable Development. 

It will bring together experts, stakeholders, policymakers and interested citizens in the co-design and co-creation of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean. 

The high-level public event will be preceded by a scientific workshop, to gather further feedback and requirements from key EU and national research projects and initiatives and establish priorities for future developments with a strong user-centric approach. The scientific workshop is by invitation only. If you wish to participate, please contact EU-MISSION-OCEAN-AND-WATERS@ec.europa.eu.   

This event is co-organised with Mercator Ocean International and the Flanders Marine Institute.