Marispace-X Project Wraps Up in Kiel: Ocean Data Use Cases Remain Relevant

Kiel, Germany. After more than three years of intensive collaboration, the Marispace-X project—initiated by north.io, co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action —officially concluded at the end of March 2025. The final event, held in Kiel, brought together all consortium members, who presented their respective results to representatives from the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) and the Gaia-X Hub Germany.

The 15 million Euro project assembled a diverse consortium of partners from Germany’s maritime, technology, and research sectors. The project was jointly led by cloud geodata specialist north.io GmbH and cloud provider IONOS. The core consortium included the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD), the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Stackable GmbH, Kiel University, and the University of Rostock. The involvement of numerous international associated partners and maritime stakeholders ensured that development remained application-oriented across all areas.

Throughout the project, the consortium explored a variety of maritime data applications—ranging from UXO risk management and sustainable aquaculture to digital twins of the seafloor. 

In addition, the use case Critical Infrastructure Protection, led by north.io, was developed to examine how digital data spaces can enhance the resilience and safety of essential underwater infrastructure. The use case was officially presented by north.io CEO Jann Wendt to German Chancellor Scholz at the Digital Summit in 2023.

The five use cases present different approaches for leveraging secure and sovereign data infrastructures to support the digital transformation of the ocean economy, which is still relevant today.

We thank all partners for their engagement and cooperation throughout the project. The final meeting in Kiel provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on shared progress and explore perspectives for future collaboration in this evolving field.

Digital Summit image copyright: Christian Kruppa