The Regional Government, through the Regional Fund for Science and Technology (FRCT), organises the workshop on "'Novel technologies to aid MSFD monitoring and interregional integration" in Horta next Tuesday, October 22. The event intends to present the new technologies involved in monitoring the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and its integration into regional and international missions.
According to the Regional Director for Science and Technology, this initiative “focuses on the importance of innovative technologies in ocean monitoring as well as on the role of other players in this scientific field, namely industry representatives and research entities.”
Bruno Pacheco defended that this event "will be a great opportunity to foster the debate on the relevance of new technologies for an in-depth knowledge of extensive maritime areas, such as the North Atlantic."
In this regard, the government official noted that the workshop includes an exhibition of autonomous surface vehicles (gliders), which correspond to instruments equipped with a series of meteorological and oceanographic sensors for oceanographic monitoring purposes.
At the end of the meeting to be held at Porto Pim Whale Factory, there will be a scheduled transnational mission to be carried out at the Maritime Terminal of Horta Port, with the launch of two gliders belonging to PLOCAN (Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias) and the Irish Maritime Institute (Foras na Mara). The position of the vehicles, the routes covered and the scientific data collected can be accessed in real time.
On Wednesday, October 23, the symposium "Observing the Sea through the Voice of Scientists" will take place at the Café Oceanic in Horta at 7:30 pm. The event is open to all interested parties.
These initiatives fall within the iFADO (Innovation in the Framework of the Atlantic Deep Ocean), a project funded by the INTERREG Atlantic Area program that runs until November 2021. It combines traditional maritime surveillance with cutting-edge technologies, such as remote sensing, numerical modelling and emerging autonomous observation platforms, namely autonomous vehicles and ocean buoys. This project intends to demonstrate the application of innovative products that will have an impact on the implementation of the MSFD.
Funded by the European INTERREG Atlantic Area programme, the iFADO project, comprising 12 partners from five countries, was created with the aim of enhancing the transfer of innovation results, with a view to facilitating the emergence of new products, services and processes.
The project has an estimated duration of four years and an overall budget of 3.6 million Euros. The consortium is led by Instituto Superior Técnico (Higher Technical Institute) and includes the Regional Fund for Science and Technology as partner, the Regional Directorate for Sea Affairs as associate partner (regional entity with expertise in the implementation of the MSFD) and the Gaspar Frutuoso Foundation in the provision of scientific support.
iFADO also has other national partners, such as the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, the University of Madeira and the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere. In turn, the international partners of this consortium are the Instituto Español de Oceanografía and Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias (Spain), NOVELTIS and Pole Mer Bretagne Atlantique (France), Plymouth Marine Laboratory and Natural Environment Research Council (United Kingdom), and the Foras na Mara (Ireland).