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Coming soon: LifeWatch data cloud application with Belgian marine data for blue economy

The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), the Blue Cluster (DBC) and the Flemish Supercomputing Center (VSC) inquired after the needs for data applications of the Flemish maritime companies, and how supercomputing can be a solution for this. Very recently, LifeWatch Belgium designed a pilot data cloud on the high-performance infrastructure of the VSC for making Belgian marine (biodiversity) data available to maritime companies, in a quick and efficient manner.
Coming soon: LifeWatch data cloud application with Belgian marine data for blue economy
The questionnaire revealed that Flemish maritime companies mainly have a need for optimally linking and making available existing (private and public) measurement networks and long-term surveys in the Belgian part of the North Sea. A good overview and easy access to raw, validated and processed data is useful for them not only in the research and design phase, but also in the operational phase of their projects.

As a first step, LifeWatch Belgium - provider of public marine biodiversity and ecosystem data for the Belgian part of the North Sea - designed a demo "Data Cloud for Maritime Industry" on the high-performance infrastructure of the Flemish Supercomputing Center. After all, it is predicted that 5G will lead to an increasing amount of data and new applications within LifeWatch in the near future, and will increase the need for computing power and Big Data solutions.

This data cloud includes a gallery of ready-to-use products (e.g. distribution and habitat suitability maps for seaweed species) and a 'data explorer' where users can upload their own datasets and external data sources to the cloud infrastructure, using a simple interface. These data can then be analyzed in the cloud with the high-performance computing (HPC) cluster, which offers extremely high computing power for solving complex and demanding problems.

The feedback obtained from a first LifeWatch Maritime Industry Advisory Board (MIAB) on 25 September will be included in the further development of the pilot. Its launch is scheduled for later this year.

In the meantime, you can view the brochure ‘LifeWatch for Maritime Industry’ for an overview of all data and services that LifeWatch Belgium offers, at which locations in the Belgian part of the North Sea measurements are carried out, and where these data can be found.

This article was originally published in Dutch on 21/10/2020 in the Testerep magazine:
http://www.vliz.be/testerep/nl/2020-10-lifewatch-data-cloud-maritieme-industrie

You can find an extensive report (in Dutch) of the first MIAB meeting and the questionnaire on the link below.

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