October 12thOctober 16th

OPERA Annual Workshop 2026 & African DITTO Workshop

HYBRID

Novotel Cotonou Orisha, Benin

Online Registration

12-14 October 2026

OPERA Workshop 2026

The second annual OPERA workshop will take place from 12 to 14 October at the Novotel Orisha hotel Cotonou, Benin, organised by Mercator Ocean International in collaboration with local hosts University Abomey Calavi - UNESCO International Chair of Mathematical Physics and Applications, the Benin Institute for Halieutic and Oceanographic Research (IRHOB) and Benin Environment and Education Society (BEES ONG). 

The meeting will serve to bring together OPERA partners in Africa and Europe as well as relevant regional bodies and organisations to announce new African partners, technical assistance partners and planned developments in the project. The meeting will also present future opportunities for collaboration open to both the African and EU community, establish links with other relevant programmes and facilitate discussions to collect feedback on key activities.
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15-16 October 2026

Implementing DITTO for Africa

The Africa DITTO workshop will take place following the OPERA workshop from 15 to 16 October in the same venue organised by the African Ocean Decade Taskforce in collaboration with the OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Centre. The workshop will combine expert plenary presentations with facilitated breakout sessions to ensure shared understanding of DITTO concepts, define priority pilot projects, explore current DTO landscape in Africa and define priority projects. 

The workshop will also serve to set the basis for an African DITTO technical architecture, governance, capacity development and resource mobilisation towards a unified African DITTO Implementation Framework.
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Participation:

  • In-person attendance: By invitation only.
  • Online attendance: Streaming of the event to be confirmed
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Partners


UAC - University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC)

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Ocean Prediction Enhancement in Regions of Africa - OPERA

Enhancing scientific and digital capabilities in ocean monitoring and forecasting to support the sustainable management of marine resources and promote human well-being.
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More info
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OceanPrediction DCC -  Mission & Vision

The OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Centre (OceanPrediction DCC) is a coordinating body under the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030). OceanPrediction DCC works to advance global ocean prediction capabilities by strengthening collaboration, capacity development, ocean knowledge sharing, and engagement across regions and communities.

Through partnerships with regional teams, scientific institutions, stakeholders, and youth networks, OceanPrediction DCC supports a more connected and accessible ocean prediction community worldwide.
unoceanprediction.org
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DITTO -  Mission & Vision

The Mission of DITTO is to develop and share a common understanding of Digital Twins of the Ocean (DTOs); to establish best practices, and advance a digital framework for DTOs to empower ocean professionals from all sectors around the world to effectively create their own digital twins.

The Vision of the DITTO Programme is a world where Digital Twins of the Ocean are used to support ocean protection, ocean governance and a sustainable blue economy.
ditto-oceandecade.org

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