North.io and NVIDIA advance ocean data processing towards a sustainable future
Geospatial cloud specialist north.io has announced it aims to revolutionize the modelling, collection and processing of ocean data using NVIDIA technologies. According to Jann Wendt, CEO, north.io, the synergy between north.io’s innovative TrueOcean marine data platform and NVIDIA’s recognized technologies is unlocking unparalleled insights into our oceans, signifying a new era in oceanic data exploration.
Wendt emphasized the significance of increasing efforts in the region between the North and Baltic Seas, noting it as a major stride towards digitalization: “The horizon of opportunity extends beyond borders; high-tech leaders are now directing their gaze towards the ‘true north’ of Germany.” He underscored the economic and ecological potential of digitalization for the state of Schleswig-Holstein, emphasizing also the importance for the security of the critical maritime infrastructure in the region.
Wendt – together with Shilpa Kolhatkar, global head of AI nations business development at NVIDIA – spoke on March 20 at the session ‘How AI and Accelerated Computing are Revolutionizing Oceanographic Data Processing’ at the NVIDIA GTC global AI conference, to discuss how north.io is using NVIDIA technology to drive new insights.
AI and GPU tech for ocean data
North.io teams have already successfully integrated three cutting-edge NVIDIA technologies into the TrueOcean platform. These are: NVIDIA Earth-2 platform and cloud services, NVIDIA Modulus and NVIDIA RAPIDS. The combination of these technologies is helping unlock unprecedented insights and opportunities for oceanic use and protection.
“With the burgeoning blue economy driven by offshore wind energy production and underwater infrastructure projects, there’s an increasing demand for advanced oceanographic data processing and analysis. North.io is using NVIDIA technologies to deliver the scalability, speed and efficiency needed to handle vast oceanic data, helping drive innovation and sustainability in this critical domain,” said Dion Harris, director, data center product GTM at NVIDIA.
The results of the technological integrations demonstrate immense potential in making projects more efficient while reducing risk and conserving resources.
“Leveraging Earth-2 and other NVIDIA technologies allows us to save months of work spent on adaptive planning, execution and data processing,” stated Wendt. Taking offshore wind energy as an example, Wendt says the world is predicted to use 1.8 terawatts of energy from this sector by the year 2050.
“Applying our technology could result in an acceleration of 15–20% during the planning phases of new wind farms, therefore potentially saving globally billions in consequential costs of climate change. Furthermore, the combination of high-precision weather modelling and autonomous systems drastically reduces human safety risks in rough offshore environments,” he added.
The importance of north.io’s work is acknowledged by the Schmidt Ocean Institute in California, one of the world’s leading and most respected research organizations funded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. “Ocean data is essential for understanding our planet, fighting climate change, developing renewable energy and protecting marine life. The integration of advanced AI and GPU-based technologies in a variety of ways will enable a small revolution in the field,” stated Dr Jyotika Virmani, executive director of the Institute.
