Thanks to the activities carried out by the iNEST consortium, funded by the NRRP, Trieste has established itself as a strategic hub for the development and testing of innovative solutions in the maritime sector, fostering synergies between research, industry and public governance.

These collaborations were at the heart of the international workshop ‘Marine Digital Twins: coasts, ports and infrastructures for sustainable management, system integration and blue economy development’, an initiative that showcased results and ongoing activities related to advanced digital solutions for the sustainable management of marine and coastal systems.

The event brought together in Trieste representatives from academia, research bodies – in particular the OGS (National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics) – public authorities, port authorities and industry stakeholders, fostering a structured dialogue on the use of Marine Digital Twins (MDT) as a key tool for the green and digital transition of the maritime sector: an important opportunity for networking and co-design, aimed at developing future project proposals and consolidating international partnerships in the field of marine digital twins.

Marine Digital Twins for the green and digital transition

Marine Digital Twins represent an enabling technology for the integration of environmental and infrastructural data, real-time monitoring and the simulation of complex scenarios, supporting evidence-based policies and more efficient decision-making processes.

The workshop highlighted the results of the activities carried out by the Universities of Trieste, Padua, Venice and Trento and by OGS as part of iNEST Spoke 8 for the Upper Adriatic area. Application cases were also illustrated, such as DIGITPORTS, in which the Port Authorities of Trieste and Monfalcone are key players, and the GEMINI project developed by a consortium of companies funded by INEST. The focus was on the potential of Digital Twins to support infrastructure resilience, environmental compliance and the optimisation of port operations.

International cooperation and the macro-regional dimension

The workshop was coordinated by Pierluigi Barbieri, professor at the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Trieste. The international and macro-regional dimension of the initiative were strengthened by the participation of experts from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara and Mersin, including Mustafa Yücel and Elif Sürer, who presented results and technologies developed for the creation of Digital Twins in the Black Sea basin.

The discussion highlighted the importance of a coordinated approach across various European and neighbouring sea basins, in line with the European Union’s strategies for territorial cooperation and the sustainable management of marine resources. Collaborations were presented involving the presence of the Tekmer NETZERO technology centre in Ankara at the Lab Village of the Urban Centre in Trieste, managed by the Upper Adriatic Technology Hub.

Towards integrated digital ecosystems for the sea

The discussion sessions highlighted the potential of Marine Digital Twins to support integrated coastal zone planning, smart port infrastructure management, the development of the Blue Economy, and climate change resilience. The need emerged to strengthen data interoperability, integration between digital platforms, and the active involvement of public and private stakeholders.