The fourth General Assembly of partners of the European iFADO (Innovation in the Framework of the Atlantic Deep Ocean) Project, designed mainly to detect and cover the gaps in existing observation in the framework of the Atlantic Deep Ocean, was held in the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), in Southampton, UK.
Under the co-ordination of the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) of Portugal, the project leader, the main aim of the meeting was to assess the technical and management progress achieved over the last six months, regarding the tasks and objectives set out in the project working plan, and for the partners as a whole to plan future actions over the coming months.
The meeting, celebrated during Ocean Business 2019, included a specific session with technology-based companies that develop ocean observing systems, in order to identify collaborative synergies and possible marketing avenues of the products derived from the iFADO project execution.
Funded by the European Interreg Atlantic Area programme in its 2016 call for projects, strand 1 “Drive innovation and competitiveness”, the main purpose of iFADO is to detect and cover gaps in existing observation matters in the Atlantic Deep Ocean. To such end, it uses the Framework Directive on Marine Strategy (DMEM) and implementation is by means of applying innovative products. In its implementation, iFADO combines both in-situ and remote oceanic monitoring using conventional systems and cutting-edge technologies such as autonomous platforms, including gliders.
iFADO is a four-year project, co-ordinated by the IST with the participation of twenty partners from both the public and private sector, from Portugal, Ireland, United Kingdom, Spain and France. PLOCAN is responsible for work package five, concerning emerging technologies for in-situ oceanic monitoring.
