Communication on the North Sea currently still often requires improvisation due to a lack of digital connectivity. This hampers the operations of sea users, increases risks, and obstructs economic, ecological, and technological developments. It also poses a serious threat to the digital transformation of the North Sea. With the Rijkswaterstaat Fieldlab Connectivity North Sea (RFCN), Rijkswaterstaat aims to drive the development of digital connectivity at sea, ensuring that by 2030, people and devices can communicate seamlessly throughout the Dutch sector of the North Sea.
Without digital connectivity there is no communication
The number of windturbines being built in the North Sea is steadliy increasing, which could lead to accidents. It's easy to imagine: a cargo ship collides with a wind turbine far from the coast. The ship sends a digital distress signal to the Coast Guard Center. The center sends a drone into the air to record the situation on site. The images are shared live with the Coast Guard Center and the nearest salvage company ship. Meanwhile, a buoy near the accident transmits data about wave height and wind speed, so that this can be taken into account during the salvage operation. Three hours later the cargo ship's crew was safely brought ashore.
The reality is that these types of communication options are lacking in large parts of the North Sea, simply because there is no digital connectivity. The rescue operation in the example would therefore be a lot more difficult in reality. And that's where the RFCN comes in.
Together we lay the foundation for new communication options at sea
In the RFCN, governments, companies, and knowledge and research institutions jointly lay the foundation for new maritime communication solutions. Through pilots and proof-of-concepts, they explore which combinations of wireless technologies are suitable for use at sea and how the associated hardware and software can be deployed at fixed, floating, or mobile installation points.