Between 7-9 October 2024, EMODnet Coordinators and wider experts convened in Brussels, Belgium for a series of EMODnet governance meetings. The 21st EMODnet Steering Committee (SC) open session was attended by diverse representatives of the EC and EU agencies, including CINEA, EC DG MARE, DEFIS, ENV and RTD. Discussions included EMODnet for EU Policy, the EC Ocean Observation Initiative and the EMODnet Vision 2035. This was followed by the 16th EMODnet Technical Working Group, with representatives from the EMODnet Central Portal technical team, thematic and data ingestion experts, EC DG MARE and CINEA (featured in the group photo). The following day, EMODnet held a planning meeting for its upcoming 4th Open Sea Lab Hackathon which will take place in Spring 2025.
Figure 1. © EMODnet Secretariat TWG meeting group photo October 2024
At these six-monthly meetings, EMODnet thematic and data ingestion Coordinators presented the latest updates on their thematic data and data product offer, current gaps and challenges and the latest developments in data ingestion, stakeholder dialogues and user uptake. The Central Portal technical team presented the latest EMODnet Portal developments, including Map Viewer feature updates, which include new projections for EMODnet data/data product visualisations (see latest technical blog for more information). A dedicated discussion on EMODnet for EU Policy, Chaired by Rémy Denos, EC DG MARE, included a presentation by Alice Belin of EC DG ENV on the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) governance structure and a discussion on current and future contributions of EMODnet to serve EU Directives including EU MSFD, the EU Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD) and more.
The Open Sea Lab (OSL) 4.0 Hackathon planning meeting was a chance for EMODnet Coordinators and wider technical experts to discuss the scope and plans for the Virtual Hackathon which will take place in March 2025 (save-the-date coming soon!). Experts discussed roles for mentors, coaches and jury members, together with the Challenges that will be set to Hackathon participants to utilise both EMODnet services and EMODnet and wider data available on the EDITO platform of the European Digital Twin Ocean.
. The closed 21st Steering Committee meeting is set to take place later this year, and full minutes from the open and closed sessions of the 21st SC and of the 16th Technical Working Group (TWG) will be made available in due course on the EMODnet Portal and EC Maritime Forum.