ILIAD’s strategic goal is to develop, operate and demonstrate the Digital Ocean Twin. It will be an interoperable, data-intensive and economically sustainable digital ocean twin over time, capitalising on the explosion of new data provided by many different earth observation sources.

The management of this data will be supported on one platform (Internet of Things, social networks, Big Data, cloud computing, etc.) in an inclusive, virtual/augmented and engaging way to address all Earth Data challenges.

ILIAD will combine high-resolution modelling with real-time sensing of ocean parameters, advanced algorithms for spatio-temporal event forecasting and pattern recognition. The DTO will consist of several real-time or near-real-time digital ocean replicas (DT). These digital replicas will be used to support the design and development of smart and innovative services, paving the way for an open, actionable and equitable digital ocean twin across the EU and beyond, starting with partner countries.

The ILIAD DTO will contribute to the implementation of the EU Digital Strategy and Green Deal and the seven outcomes of the UN Decade for Oceans, closely linked to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To realise its potential, ILIAD DTO will follow the System of Systems (SoS) approach, integrating all existing EU digital Earth observation and modelling infrastructures. The ILIAD DTO will exploit all aspects of these geospatial databases, covering water column, seabed, land, atmosphere, sea ice and climate components.

Through ILIAD DTO, partners will create the ILIAD Marketplace. Like an app shop, providers can use the ILIAD Marketplace to distribute apps, add-ons, interfaces, raw data, citizen science data, synthesised information and value-added services in combination with ILIAD DTO.