Advancements in Digital Twins of the Ocean to Increase Coastal Resilience

Keynote
In session Digital Twins , Sept. 4, 2025, 10:45 – 11:45
Exact timing: 10:45 – 11:15
Room info: Lecture Hall

Technology is revolutionizing our approach to environmental challenges. Among the most promising tools of digitalization is the Digital Twin (DT), or more specifically the Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO). This is a virtual replica of the ocean that holds immense potential for sustainable marine development. In order to successfully confront the increasing impacts and hazards of a changing climate (such as coastal erosion and flooding), it is vital to further develop the DTO in order to be able to monitor, predict, and protect vulnerable coastal communities. DTOs are powered by AI-enhanced data that integrates ocean conditions, ecosystems, and anthropogenic influences, along with novel AI-driven predictive modeling capabilities, combining wave, hydrodynamic, and morphodynamic models. This enables unprecedented accuracy in seamless forecasting capabilities. In addition to natural phenomena, DTOs can also include socio-economic factors (e.g. ocean-use, pollution). Thus, DTOs can be used to monitor the current ocean state, but also to simulate future ‘What-if’ Scenarios (WiS) for various human interventions. In this way the DTO can guide decisions for protecting the coast and sustainable use of marine resources, while also promoting collaboration on effective solutions for ocean conservation.

In European projects such as the European Digital Twin Ocean (EDITO) ModelLab, work is ongoing to utilize the DTO to simulate various WiS that are co-designed with stakeholders. These include assessing the impacts of sea level rise, evaluating the success of various mitigation and adaptation strategies, such as Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). With the use of NBS, decision-makers from a variety of groups can be more informed about using vegetation to reduce erosion risk and wave heights on the coast, to reduces the cost of coastal protection. Another EDITO WiS addresses the development of commercially viable and sustainable offshore low-trophic aquaculture (LTA) in wind or fish farms, enhancing the sustainable blue economy. Working with a DTO to address such scenarios can provide better information for decision-making and highlight regions of the real ocean in need of special attention.

These efforts also align with global initiatives like the EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters, and Green Deal projects (e.g., Rest-COAST). Other relevant international initiatives include the COSS-TT (Coastal Ocean and Shelf Seas Task Team under OceanPredict) and UN Decade programmes (such as CoastPredict, and the Decadal Collaborative Center on Coastal Resilience (DCC-CR), and DITTO). The UN Ocean Decade DITTO Program in particular aims to establish and advance a digital framework for marine data, modeling and simulations, and advanced tools such as AI capabilities, to empower users to create their own workflows for utilizing DTOs, improving interoperability and ease of access to increase worldwide scientific collaboration.

The DTO has the potential to play a significant role in advancing the sustainable development of the marine environment. DT-based What-If Scenarios foster cooperation among stakeholders in shared oceanic spaces, enabling data-driven decisions and collaborations. The DTO platform enables decision-making and management strategies for the sustainable utilization of ocean resources, which builds resilient communities and empowers decision makers, educators, researchers, and the general public in a changing world