BioDT Annual Meeting 2023

Hybrid event, 13–14 June 2023.

The Annual Meeting of the Horizon Europe project BioDT was held in Leiden on 13-14 June 2023 and was hosted by the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, the Netherlands. The aim of the Annual Meeting was to gather together as a consortium to facilitate cross-WP collaboration and to discuss upcoming project activities.

The meeting served as a significant event for researchers and experts involved in the BioDT project. It provided a platform for participants to come together and foster collaboration across different work packages (WP). With the event being held in a hybrid format, participants had the flexibility to attend either in person or remotely. The gathering aimed to facilitate cross-WP collaboration, allowing researchers from different domains to exchange knowledge, share insights, and forge partnerships that contributed to the project’s overarching goals.

The meeting served as a platform to review the progress made so far, address any challenges or obstacles encountered, and collectively strategise for the future. Through these discussions, the consortium members aligned their efforts, leveraged each other’s expertise, and ensured the smooth and effective advancement of the BioDT project.

Overall, the BioDT Annual Meeting held in Leiden was an important milestone in the project’s timeline. It brought together researchers, experts, and stakeholders invested in biodiversity research and digital twin development, providing a unique opportunity to collaborate, exchange ideas, and strengthen the collective efforts towards understanding and preserving our planet’s rich biodiversity.

ISC 2023

ISC 2023

Hamburg, Germany, 21–25 May 2023.

The event for High Performance Computing, Machine Learning, Data Analytics and Quantum Computing

ISC High Performance 2023 is a highly-anticipated annual event that provides a valuable opportunity for public and industry users to connect with technology developers. Taking place in Hamburg, Germany 21–25 May 2023, this year’s conference features a rich program of keynotes, tutorials, workshops, and focused sessions centered around high-performance computing, machine learning, data analytics, and quantum computing.

The conference serves as an inclusive platform for participants to share insights on the successful application of HPC in science, engineering, and commerce. With its open and collaborative format, attendees can expect to engage in stimulating discussions and build meaningful connections with experts and peers from around the world.

Find more information on the official website.

BioDT at ISC 2023

BioDT partners are going to showcase the project at the ISC 2023 through:

  • a poster presentation where it is possible to meet and discover the evolution of the digital twin prototype for biodiversity research with our partners from IT4I.

Webinar: Digital Earth Twins to build resilience to climate change

Digital Twins Climate Change

Online, 4 April 2023.

BioDT: a Digital Twin prototype to help protect and restore biodiversity

Understanding the forces shaping biodiversity is needed for rational management of natural resources and also to meet the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 to restore biodiversity in Europe. In particular, researchers need to be able to better predict global biodiversity dynamics and how species interact with their environment and with each other. This can be an extremely difficult task because the processes underlying biodiversity dynamics are complex. Innovative ways to combine data, models and interaction processes are required to predict these dynamics and offer solutions that promote a sustainable management of Earth’s biodiversity and its ecosystems.

For this reason, the BioDT consortium aims to push the current boundaries of predictive understanding of biodiversity dynamics by developing a Biodiversity Digital Twin (BioDT) providing advanced modelling, simulation and prediction capabilities. 

BioDT, DestinE and Digital Earth Twins: a joint webinar to showcase opportunities, challenges and future trends in virtual twins

The webinar “Digital Earth Twins to build resilience to climate change” aims to showcase best practices, challenges and emerging patterns in developing digital twins. The involved speakers are experts and developers in the field and are going to highlight, during a one-hour event, the main aspects to be taken into account while developing highly-complex technology systems, such as BioDT, Destination Earth and ClimateDT.

The event includes also an interactive session where the participants can get in contact with the speakers and ask direct questions.

Registration for the webinar is mandatory, but free.

Register for the event

Draft Agenda (all times CEST)

  • 10:00 – Welcome & Introduction
  • 10:05 – Digital Earth Twins: a roadmap to build resilience to climate change – Christian Kirchsteiger, European Commission DG Connect
  • 10:10 – Introduction of the Biodiversity Digital Twin: objectives, scope, expected results – Jesse Harrison, CSC & BioDT project manager
  • 10:20 – Introduction of the digital earth twins and the DestinE work: objectives, scope, expected results – Thomas Geenen, EMCWF & DestinE
  • 10:25 – BioDT and DestinE: collaboration to strengthen the development of Digital Earth Twins – Jeroen Broekhuijsen, TNO
  • 10:30 – Test your knowledge (interactive session)
  • 10:35 – Panel discussion on the role played by digital twins on green deal & EU digital strategy
    • Jenni Kontkanen, CSC & Climate DT
    • Thomas Geenen, EMCWF & DestinE
    • Marina Tonani, Mercator Ocean & EDITO
  • 11:00 – Conclusion

BioDT Webinar: Towards FAIR Digital Twins – 2nd session

Towards FAIR Digital Twins

Online, 13 February 2023.

The Biodiversity Digital Twin‘s design, implementation, and maintenance present several issues, including the linkage and integration of various data types and related computing services. Consequently, FAIR principles are extremely important, especially during the modelling and prototyping process.

Over the last few months, the BioDT team has been discussing how to understand the FAIRness of the data sources. In particular, the team engaged in improving “Quality of Data, Workflows and Models through FAIR Principles” is tasked with delivering an implementation plan for FAIR Digital Objects over the FAIR data designs of the relevant Research Infrastructures. The team is working to find gaps in understanding FAIR implementation and how it connects to BioDT, even though FAIR principles and the technological elements supporting Digital Twins are not new.

To facilitate discussions around this topic, the BioDT consortium is organising a series of online webinars to stimulate conversations around FAIR with a focus on BioDT and the digital twinning paradigm. Experts and practitioners that deal with different aspects of FAIR implementation and digital twins are invited to join to stimulate discussions that help understand FAIR implementation in a more actionable way.

The second session is taking place on 13 February at 16:00 (CET) and provides an overview of FAIR tools applicable to digital twinning. 

Do not hesitate to learn more about this fascinating topic by registering for free!

Agenda

  • 16:00 – 16:05: Welcome and introduction
  • 16:05 – 16:35: An introduction to the FAIR Principles for Research Software
  • 16:35 – 17:00: Q&A 

BioDT Webinar: Towards FAIR Digital Twins – 1st session

Towards FAIR Digital Twins

Online, 26 January 2023.

The Biodiversity Digital Twin‘s design, implementation, and maintenance present several issues, including the linkage and integration of various data types and related computing services. Consequently, FAIR principles are extremely important, especially during the modelling and prototyping process.

Over the last few months, the BioDT team has been discussing how to understand the FAIRness of the data sources. In particular, the team engaged in improving “Quality of Data, Workflows and Models through FAIR Principles” is tasked with delivering an implementation plan for FAIR Digital Objects over the FAIR data designs of the relevant Research Infrastructures. The team is working to find gaps in understanding FAIR implementation and how it connects to BioDT, even though FAIR principles and the technological elements supporting Digital Twins are not new.

To facilitate discussions around this topic, the BioDT consortium is organising a series of online webinars to stimulate conversations around FAIR with a focus on BioDT and the digital twinning paradigm. Experts and practitioners that deal with different aspects of FAIR implementation and digital twins are invited to join to bring forward discussions that help understand FAIR implementation in a more actionable way.

The first session is taking place on 26 January at 14:00 (CET) and provides a conceptual overview of FAIR principles applicable on digital twinning. 

Do not hesitate to learn more about this fascinating topic by registering for free!

Agenda

  • 14:00 – 14:05: Welcome and introduction
  • 14:05 – 14:35: Presentation on FAIR principles and digital twinning
  • 14:35 – 15:00: Q&A

Night of Science

Finnish Night of Science

Helsinki, 12 January 2023.

The Night of Science is an annual event dedicated to scientists and researchers which is celebrated in Helsinki.

The next event takes place on 12 January 2023. The programme is made up from many different organisations and actors and the multiple events offer science and research in many different forms. All free of charge!

BioDT at the Night of Science

LifeWatch ERIC is partner in the Horizon Europe project BioDT, which will feature at the event. Jesse Harrison, BioDT Project Manager and Aleksi Kallio, BioDT Leader for Digital Twin Advanced Technical Platform, are joining a panel discussion during the Finnish “Night of Science”, which is streamed nationwide. Their presentations revolve around BioDT and ClimateDT with a focus on how supercomputing can help address major environmental problems.

More information on the event website.