Bringing movement data to policymakers: incorporating tracking data into the EU’s Data Lake.

Digital Twins (DTs) are virtual representations of real-world physical objects, products, systems, or processes, and can be used for simulations and monitoring for decision support or research. DTs are rapidly gaining momentum by offering a powerful framework to assess the state of natural systems in the past, present, and future. In the marine domain, Digital Twins of the Ocean (DTOs) can be used to monitor changes in marine ecosystems, evaluate the impacts of climate change, and support sustainable use and long-term management. However, most existing DTOs remain heavily focused on oceanographic and physical components and have not yet fully integrated animal-movement data.  

Within the European Digital Twin Ocean (EDITO), launched by the European Commission, ocean knowledge is made readily available to everyone. EDITO integrates data from satellites, sensors, computer models, and personal device, including all EMODnet (European Marine Observations and Data Network) and Copernicus Marine data, among other sources. Since November 2025, aquatic animal tracking data from the European Tracking Network (ETN) is incorporated. 

The ETN database host tracking data of a wide variety of aquatic animals - such as teleost fish, elasmobranchs and molluscs - with a focus on acoustic telemetry and data storage tags. These data contribute to studies on movement ecology, species distribution modelling, wildlife management and conservation. By contributing its tracking data to EDITO, ETN strengthens its commitment to open, interoperable, and accessible data. 

Securing the continuous update of data to the EDITO requires the establishment of reliable pipelines between data sources and the EDITO Data Lakes. To achieve this, ETN has developed pipelines that deliver down-sampled data in Darwin Core format via EMODnet, and full-resolution data in Parquet format via SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) standard. The harmonized ETN data streams ensure that researchers, managers, and developers can readily access animal-movement information for modelling, forecasting, and visualization within the EDITO platform.

In this presentation, we outline our best practices for integrating bio-logging and tracking data into Digital Twin initiatives, highlighting lessons learned and presenting how these data streams can enhance evidence-based decision-making in marine management and policy.