Title

Acoustic detection of vessels or submarines by small low-cost devices arranged in an internet of underwater things (IoUT) offers distributed sensing with easy deployment from moorings, vessels or air. A key technology for IoUT is energy harvesting to extend operation time. 

The main goal of the project MARBLE is to create a new “Centre of Excellence in Maritime Robotics and Technologies for Sustainable Blue Economy” (CoE MARBLE) that will engage Croatia in a path of sustainable innovative growth in blue economy in strategic partnership with Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and National Research Council (CNR, Italy). 

Name: Montenegrin Centre for Underwater Sensor Networks Acronym: MONUSEN Funding:  HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-02 – Twinning Total budget: € 1,499,666.25 Start and end date: 01/06/2022 - 31/05/2025 Coordinator: University of Montenegro Partners: National Research Council of Italy, University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University Newcastle Web page:  www.monusen.ucg.ac.me Underwater Sensor Networks (USNs) are becoming increasingly popular due to their advanced capabilities in oceanographic data collection, pollution monitoring, exploration of natural undersea resources, disaster prevention, assisted navigation and tactical surveillance applications. The MONUSEN project will increase research and innovation capabilities of the University of Montenegro (UoM) via links with the internationally leading EU research institutions, University of Zagreb (UNIZG), Newcastle University (UNEW) and National Research Council of Italy (CNR). The project will reduce the gaps and deficiencies between the UoM and its EU research counterparts and improve staff research profiles in the USN field. It will strive for scientific excellence based on the transfer of knowledge and expertise, improved creativity, strong partnerships with the leading research institutions and industry, and improved research management and administration at the UoM. These objectives will be reached through a set of strategic measures: staff exchanges and expert visits for providing knowledge transfer; on-site trainings for providing hands-on experience; joint research actions; research and innovation management trainings; organization of research-industry workshops for strengthening links to marine robotics industry; joint organization of hackathons on topics dictated by industry needs within the scope of the joint research actions; and joint organization of summer schools with strong emphasis on strengthening links to USN end-users from marine biology, marine archaeology, oceanography, marine security, etc.

This cooperation partnership focuses on the teaching, learning, and training of late high school students and their teachers in the area of marine robotics and artificial intelligence applied to environmental monitoring and protection and giving special attention to the possibilities introduced by remote access to infrastructures (telerobotics). In particular, the project: Objective 1: will encourage interest in both students and teachers towards robotics, artificial intelligence, and STEM in general, by stimulating students to work in STEM-related projects and use marine robots; Objective 2: will engage and keep students motivated, with the goals of a) contributing to a decrease in dropout rates and b) encourage a STEM career for every student, with particular attention to underrepresented groups. Objective 3: will increase the digital competences and skills of both students and teachers, with an emphasis on applications in new technologies, robotics and artificial intelligence; Objective 4: will exploit the possibilities introduced by remote access/remote learning to provide high quality lectures by university experts and perform remote robotic trials contributing to sustainable development and avoiding unnecessary travels. Objective 5: will raise awareness about climate change and environmental protection and mitigation, using marine robotics as an application field, in particular applied to detection, recognition and removal of seabed litter. The most tangible result will be a new course tailored for high school students on the use of marine robots for environmental applications. Moreover, the project is expected to achieve a wider awareness on environmental issues that can be tackled by marine robots; a higher number of students attracted to STEM; an increased use of remote learning technologies; more similar cooperation and exchange initiatives. Objectives 1 and 2 are directly connected to the sectorial priority “Promoting interest and excellence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and the STEAM approach” as the project aims to raise the interest in students for STEM through a combination of theoretical and hands-on activities. Objectives 3 and 4 are directly connected to the horizontal priority “Addressing digital transformation through development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity” by introducing new technologies to both teachers and students and promoting the use of remote learning not only for theoretical content but also for hands-on activities. Finally, Objective 3 and 5 is directly connected to the horizontal priority “Environment and fight against climate change” as we will use marine robotics as a tool to raise awareness about climate change and environmental protection and mitigation, in particular about the anthropogenic pollution effects in the seas, both in the teachers and students from the organisations involved and outside the partnership, in order to educate and mobilise youngsters.

SOUND: A swarm of low-cost floaters to acoustically perform in-situ fish stock assessment in remote areas. The SOUND project studies in-situ ocean monitoring which enables tracking of marine life via low-cost Lagrangian floaters that drift with the water current, while autonomously performing acoustic fish detection and fish biomass assessment activities.

UWIN-LABUST project aims to create conditions and opportunities at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical and Engineering and Computing (UNIZG-FER) in Croatia for high quality researchers and research managers to move and engage to achieve excellence in a sustainable manner within the area of Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT), at the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies (LABUST).

Name:  Croatia-Cyprus Excellence Hub on Eco-Innovative Technologies for Healthy and Productive Seas Acronym: SeaTecHub Funding: HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS Total budget: € 4,999,580.00 Start and end date: 01/06/2023 – 31/05/2027 Coordinator: Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI) Partners: Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER), The Shipping Deputy Ministry (SDM), Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFMR), Šibenik-Knin County (SKC), IN2, The Croatian Chamber of Economy (CCE), GeoImaging Ltd, Fameline Energy (FML), The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), AKTI Project and Research Centre, Digital Innovation Hub ‘AgriFood Croatia’ (AFC), 20000 Leagues (20kL), MZO (HR-PUB) Web page: www.seatechub.eu – SeaTecHub Project     The main goal of the SeaTecHub project is to strengthen Croatian and Cyprus place-based innovation ecosystems and improve access to excellence for R&I actors by cross-border collaboration on a common strategy and alongside value adding chains within the area of eco-innovative technologies for healthy and productive seas, focusing on sectors : 1. Aquaculture and fisheries, 2. Smart ports, 3. Maritime security and protection, 4. Research and Education, and 5. Maritime technologies, which are aligned with Croatian and Cypriot Smart Specialization Strategies and have been identified as emerging and established sectors in the EU Blue Economy Report 2021. The objectives of the SeaTecHub project are: 1) to facilitate long-term cross border and inter-sectoral collaboration to advance eco-innovative technologies for healthy and productive seas, 2) to perform joint research work to close knowledge gaps, consolidate and reinforce quadruple-helix linkages, and validate strategy and action and investment plans (AIPs), 3) to implement a set of mutual learning and skills development measures, and 4) to raise visibility of Croatian-Cyprus innovation ecosystems by implementing strategic measures in the form of organizing networking, knowledge and experience transfer events. These objectives will be reached through a set of measures that include: a) development of the strategy and AIPs and their digitalization through an innovative platform utilizing blockchain-based tokenization, b) R&I projects selected considering cross-border and cross-sectoral needs within, c) conceptual design and pre-planning for pilots and demonstrators, and d) a set of accompanying measures and outreach activities. The SeaTecHub consortium covers the quadruple helix of Croatian and Cyprus ecosystems: 2 research organizations, 4 public authorities, 5 business actors, and 3 NGOs. Strong willingness to actively participate has also been expressed by 49 institutions who have provided Letter of Support.