Science Evidence Data and Digital Portfolio Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Digital, Data and Technology (DDAT)

Headlines

• The DDAT team was instrumental in upgrading our ships' offshore satellite communications enhancing communication from all SG vessels
• Our data discovery project identified core systems and collections to help assess our organisations data maturity
• Our team expanded data storage and archiving capabilities to meet increasing capture of high volume datasets
• One of our DDAT experts completed a 4 year period as chair of the Data Science and Technology Steering Group (DSTSG). As per ICES tradition, outgoing chairs of steering groups etc. receive an ICES Service award at the Annual Science Conference: Award- winning science in Gateshead

Key Work in 2024 - 25

1. Data management, publishing and services Contributes to:

Identifying options for development/ improvement of processes, products or services. Data Discovery and Planning Projects.

2. Platforms, maintenance and development support Contributes to:

Technical support, maintenance and provisioning of applications and

infrastructure required to support SEDD Services.

3. Developing and improving processes, products and services Contributes to:

Develop replacement Fishing Vessel Licensing Application; collect improved requirements/ user needs for Aqaudat System and FishObs; replacement solution for Off Scots Environment.

4. Science engagement and provisioning of services Contributes to:

Developing, maintaining and improving services and infrastructure for the geospatial and data landscape.

5. Strategic subject matter expert advice and support Contributes to:

Provide, maintain and improve Data and Analytical Services.

Case Study: Low Earth Orbit Satellites

As part of our commitment to the fleet, the Marine Directorate’s Digital, Data and Technology Team keep up to date with upcoming technology across the marine space, including satellite communications. Low Earth Orbit satellites have quickly risen to the top of everyone’s most desired list, due to their significantly faster speeds, reduced latency, smaller antennas and increased global availability.

Traditional satellite communications are significantly farther from earth (around 36,000 km compared to the LEO 1200 km) and are considerably more expensive to use.

MD DDaT commissioned a three-month trial aboard MPV Hirta, the objectives were to test the quality of service and coverage, increase crew welfare by offering much better communications whilst at sea, improve voice and data communications for fleet use and explore innovative technology opportunity benefits such as evaluating the operation of drone technology.

The benefits of such were considerably faster download speeds than are available from current traditional satellite communications, crews reported communications whilst out at sea were comparable to a home-based broadband connection, a significant welfare benefit allowing crew to stay connected with friends and family life whilst away at sea and important applications like weather forecasts and enforcement tools are instantly available on personal devices rather than having to log in via SCOTS connection.

The trial was a major success, and this service has since been rolled out to all vessels via the Scottish Wide Area Network. We were also able to utilise the UK Government owned OneWeb system, which also uses LEO satellite to complement (and act as a backup) for this service.

Financially, the move to this service will save £480,000 over three years. Operationally, MD can now utilise the use of drones to enhance our enforcement for our fleet, live video footage broadcast back to shore in real-time to allow collaboration between onshore Enforcement Officers and British Sea Fishery Officers. Scientifically, the enhanced communications allow data transfer whilst at sea, rather than waiting until the Research Vessel returns to port.

It also allows for remote troubleshooting of devices which fail; this would not have been possible before on the previous satellite bandwidth. This applies to navigational, engineering and scientific devices.