Page 16: of Marine Technology Magazine (June 2016)

Comms, Telemetry Data Processing

Courtesy: Singapore Institute of Technology the over? shing crisis, presented in the form of apps for smart a number of codable options to put forward for the annual phone devices. hackathon. When choosing what issues to address, the panel “Secretary Kerry is passionate about climate change and the looks for original concerns that had the greatest potential of ocean, and therefore wanted to bring people together to talk being developed, as well as the data availability that the cod- about core problems. As part of his of? ce, we wanted to do ers could actually use to create the software. Over the last something innovative for the ocean and to bring in outside three years, organizers have seen a trend in concerns focus- ideas and crowd source innovative aspects which hasn’t been ing around themes such as over? shing, illegal activities and thought of previously: so we decided to run a hackathon,” said prices in ports.

Jim Thompson, Director of Innovation at the U.S. Depart- This April at Fishackathon 2016, the challenges coders were ment of State. “Not only is it a great cause but people also ? nd asked to address were around ? sh identi? cation; lost ? sh gear; the idea of doing something tangible, where they can actu- vessel data and compliance with marine applicable ? shing ally have an impact, exciting and worthy of their time. We are laws; and regulations covering regions. Problem statements bringing in younger people, Millennials and the Alpha genera- came from organizations such as MarViva Foundation, Fish- tion, to think about doing something with their skills in coding eries and Oceans Canada, Bill? sh Foundation and the Global that they maybe haven’t thought of before.” Ghost Gear Initiative.

Each year at the ‘Our Ocean’ conference, organizers issue “Trying to ? nd solutions to ghost gear is fairly new concept a call for problem statements to hundreds of scientists and for us. When a ? shing net drops off of a boat, it can cause a gi- industry professionals. A panel of ocean experts and tech- ant environmental impact as the net sweeps across the seabed nologies come together to review the suggestions and select killing life along the way. If we had the information as to where

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