Regional Digital Twins of the Ocean: the Opportunity for Effective Integration and Real Transformative Changes Through Fit for Purpose Multi-Platform Ocean Observing and Forecasting, Interoperability and Open Science

The UN Ocean Decade calls for transformative ocean science solutions to support sustainable development and strengthen the connection between people and the ocean, recognizing that ocean literacy is fundamental to advance ocean sustainability. Recent advancements in technology, observational capabilities, international frameworks, and evolving concepts such as scientific excellence, combined with new initiatives like digital twins of the ocean, present significant opportunities for this transformation. These efforts highlight the importance of interoperability and societal engagement but also acknowledging, as Elinor Ostrom showed, that there are no panaceas.

Achieving these goals requires strong leadership and adaptations within research structures and funding organizations. A holistic approach to ocean integration throughout the ocean value chain is essential, from the co-design of observing systems and/or cloud infrastructures to the real implementation of FAIR and CARE data principles in sound information management frameworks and digital architectures to the development downstream applications addressing specific use cases. Transformative organizational changes are vital, and regional digital twins can serve as prototype use cases, offering a multidisciplinary environment conducive to this transformation.

To realize this vision, alignment with UN Ocean Decade programs such as DITTO and CoastPredict, as well as international and European initiatives like GOOS, OBPS, EDITO (Lab and Infra), the Copernicus Marine Service, EMODnet, BlueCloud, JERICO-RI, and EOSC, is crucial. These efforts must enhance ecosystems that foster scientific excellence with tangible societal impacts, build trust, and achieve effective synchronization and alignment of digital twin components. Regional coastal and ocean research infrastructures, such as SOCIB multi-platform observing and forecasting system, and many others, are well-positioned to contribute to this transformation due to their critical mass, mission-driven innovation, and commitment to open science. They can integrate the five key components of digital twins to develop fit-for-purpose solutions and minimum viable products, providing a pathway for achieving the envisioned transformation.

Several practical examples of prototype digital twins of the ocean will be presented, addressing different scales from nearshore to open ocean and covering various societal sectors. These include efforts to enhance interoperability and reduce data silos, support adaptation of urban beaches to climate change, develop decision-support tools for marine heatwaves, manage and preserve marine protected areas (MPAs), and implement warning systems for coastal hazards such as meteotsunamis, or beach erosion, among others.