A landmark horizon-scanning report maps the most promising emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations in ocean monitoring, and charts where the scientific community should focus its energy in the years ahead. The EU’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has released its latest Observing the Future report, offering a comprehensive scan of the technological horizon for ocean observation.
Subtitled Horizon scanning for emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations in the field of ocean observation, the publication serves as both a roadmap and a rallying call for the research and industrial innovation community — outlining exactly where meaningful progress is within reach over the next several years.
The timing is no coincidence. The UN Ocean Decade, the international framework running from 2021 to 2030 to mobilise science for a sustainable ocean, is now entering its second half. Commitments must translate into tangible results, and fast.
Eight Areas Where Innovation Can Make a Real Difference
The JRC report identifies eight priority technology areas that hold the greatest potential for transforming how scientists and policymakers observe, understand, and protect the world’s oceans:
- autonomous eDNA and eRNA samplers;
- lab-on-chip systems;
- cost-effective and modular sensors;
- data fusion between Earth observation and in-situ measurements;
- distributed acoustic sensing; AI-enhanced passive acoustic sensing;
- deep learning-enabled imaging;
- flow cytometry and particle-based high-frequency observations of plankton.
SeaCras Research Puts Priority Technologies Into Practice
SeaCras has already been putting several of these priority areas into practice. In collaboration with the Centre for Marine Research at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, the team has published a new peer-reviewed study in Scientific Reports by Springer Nature: High-frequency observations during Adriatic mucilage event reveal unique phytoplankton traits and diversity response.
The research examines a mucilage event in the Adriatic Sea, a phenomenon in which large aggregates of organic matter accumulate in the water column, disrupting marine ecosystems, using high-frequency observational methods to capture the phytoplankton community’s response with unprecedented resolution. The findings shed new light on how these communities adapt to acute environmental stress events.
Of critical importance is that the study draws directly on three of the EU Joint Research Centre’s highlighted priority areas:
- data fusion between Earth observation and in-situ measurements,
- deep learning-enabled imaging,
- and flow cytometry and particle-based high-frequency observations of plankton
These cutting/edge technologies and the integrating approach demonstrated the path from technological promise to scientific application is already well underway.
EU’s Joint Research Centre Report Contributors and Acknowledgements
The report authors acknowledge the valuable contribution of Michela Bergamini, Marcelina Grabowska and Olivier Eulaerts (EC – DG JRC, Text and Data Mining Unit), together with Emily Djock and Fabian Reck (Itonics), for their support in gathering the signals used in the report.
They also express their appreciation to the workshop participants, whose time, expertise and input helped shape the work, including Mario Špadina, CEO and co-founder of SeaCras:
Abed El Rahman Hassoun (GEOMAR), Alexander Phillips (NOC), Alfredo Martins (INESCTEC), Andrew King (NIVA), Catarina Lemos (CEiiA), Catherine Dreanno (IFREMER), Cyril Germineaud (ODATIS & CNES), Christina Pavloudi (EMBRC-ERIC), Encarni Medina-Lopez (University of Edinburgh), Eva Chatzinikolaou (HCMR), Fiona Regan (Dublin City University), Gabriele Pieri (ISTI-CNR), Gonçalo Faria (Forum Oceano), Inga Lips (L4M Consulting), Jean-Francois Berthon (EC – DG JRC), Johannes Singer (FUGRO), Klaas Deneudt (VLIZ), Laurent Mortier (ENSTA IP Paris), Louis Demargne (FUGRO), Lumi Haraguchi (SYKE Finland), Mario Špadina (SeaCras), Martha Valiadi (IMBB-FORTH), Michela Martinelli (IRBIM-CNR), Nicolas Pade (EMBRC ERIC), Patrick Gorringe (SMHI), Patrizio Mariani (TU Denmark), Paul Trautendorfer (JPI Oceans), Philippe Blondel (University of Bath), Rodrigo Ataide Dias (EC – DG MARE), Sari Giering (NOC), Sheila Heymans (European Marine Board), Sophie Clayton (NOC) and Victoire Rérolle (Fluidion).
DOI: 10.2760/3939356 (online)
Citation: FARINHA, J., NAGY, O., BAILEY, G. and POLVORA, A., Observing the Future – Horizon scanning for emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations in the field of ocean observation, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2026, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/3939356, JRC144401.
What Are the Goals and Purpose of the Joint Research Centre?
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. Through independent, evidence-based scientific advice grounded in its research, the JRC provides scientific and technical support for the development of EU policies.