On December 29, 2020 Union Minister for Earth Science, Dr Harsh Vardhan virtually launched ‘Digital Ocean’ (www.do.incois.gov.in) a 1st of its kind Digital platform for Ocean Data Management. The platform has been developed by INCOIS (Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
i.The platform will serve as a one stop-solution for all data related needs of a wide range of users such as research institutions, operational agencies, strategic users, academic community, maritime industry & public.
ii.Dr. M. Rajeevan, Secretary of MoES, Dr. Vipin Chandra, Joint Secretary of MoES, Dr T Srinivasa Kumar, Director of INCOIS were present during the launch.
Features of ‘Digital Ocean’:
Until now, there are multiple platforms for storing data from Oceans (Bay of Bengal & Arabian Sea), Digital Ocean will replace these platforms & will act as a single platform for repository of data.
i.The integration of data into a single platform will ease the difficulty of handling vast ocean data sets required to make forecasts & weather modelling.
ii.The platform has a set of applications which can organize & present heterogenous oceanographic data to the users using latest advancements in geospatial technology.
iii.To help in the further understanding of oceans, the platform has been designed in an interactive mode by using techniques like 3D, 4D data visualization.
iv.It also features Data analysis for assessment of the evolution of oceanographic features.
v.Using the Management component of the platform, Officials can authenticate users, define their roles & privileges of access to different data sets and categorization of data as per data sharing guidelines.
Key Points from Harsh Vardhan’s Address:
i.The platform will help in expanding the ‘Blue Economy’ initiative of the Government of India.
ii.The platform is also set to be promoted among all Indian Ocean Rim countries.
Deep Ocean Mission:
i.Harsh Vardhan highlighted the Deep Ocean Mission being undertaken by the Government of India to harness the wealth of the ocean.
ii.Deep Ocean Mission will help in research about alternate sources of energy, mineral wealth & source of food in oceans.
Technologies & tools developed by INCOIS:
INCOIS has adopted and developed several new technologies, tools & advisory services such as Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisories, Ocean State Forecast (OSF), High Wave Alerts, Tsunami early warnings, Storm Surge & Oil-Spill advisories.
About Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS):
An Autonomous Institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences
Director – T Srinivasa Kumar
Location – Hyderabad, Telangana
