NextOcean has three major objectives. The work performed is reported below with respect to each of the objectives.
SO-1 Specific Objective 1: Co-design commercial services leveraging on Copernicus, additional data sources, related previous activities and expertise with and for users active in the sustainable fishing and aquaculture sectors.
The Co-design activities have been concluded over this reporting period, with the reporting in D2.5 on the latest co-design workshops (Alfeite, Peniche), and the transfer of the related requirements to the service providers, for novel or improved services to be developed during the last period of the NextOcean project. This was accompanied with efforts to ensure these evolutions are relevant and desirable for potential customers in the fishing and aquaculture sectors. A total of 24 additional user requirements have been distilled from these in-person workshops. Also, Copernicus datasets and AIS datasets (from the commercial provide Spire) were integrated towards the potential added value of the NextOcean commercial services. The D2.6 Final User Requirements Report and D2.7 Service Gap Analysis Report provide an overview of the overall NextOcean project effort for the Co-design of commercial services.
The goals of the Releases 1 and 2 have been supported by each service, along with the readiness for business of the Online Store. This effort was complemented also by extra requirements identified during the sales effort in the later part of the project. Specific work developed to support this specific objective is described in more detail in the subsections of section 3.2 related to WP2, WP3 and WP4 (including KPIs).
SO-2 Specific Objective 2: Promote the uptake of the services at international scale, across vertical markets (private and public) and amongst key user communities with tailored and well-targeted communication, dissemination and capacity building activities.
NextOcean has been physically promoted in twelve different countries and presented to global audiences online via webinars, hackathons, YouTube videos and social media posts. Potential end-users exposed to the services have covered a broad range from academic/research entities interested in the latest technologies and methods for analysing the oceans, through to public and private organisations looking for solutions to specific needs. Potential buyers (including the first paying customer) have been found via well-chosen trade fairs, allowing the NextOcean sales team to connect with the primary target audience of downstream service providers and users that are ready to ingest data services and apply them to help solve real-world problems. More details are provided on this in the subsections of section 3.2 related to WP6, complemented by WP5 (including KPIs).
SO-3 Specific Objective 3: Enable long-term commercial sustainability of the services and their penetration in public and private markets with an actionable business plan.
NextOcean’s business plan has been developed with a pragmatic market entry strategy over several years. Initial target customers in the private sector have been prioritised to successfully secure a first sale of a NextOcean service. Using different methods for different audiences, market penetration to field users and public entities is envisaged over a medium to long term. Extensive promotion during the funded project has generated a great deal of awareness and several sales leads, which sets up NextOcean for continued commercial efforts beyond the project. Achieving commercial adoption of NextOcean’s services has demonstrated the potential for taking advantage of market opportunities in the field of Earth Observation and creating a business that can drive value for both service providers and end users for the long term. More details are provided on this in the subsections of section 3.2 related to WP5 (including KPIs).
