As part of the permanent operating and monitoring strategy of the PLOCAN integrated observatory, and as a contribution to the European AtlantOS project, , a new seasonal glider mission (ESTOC2017_1) is currently being run in the waters off the north-east coast of Gran Canaria.
As in previous years, students from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) enrolled in the Masters programme in Information Technology and Communications (ITC) Solutions for Well-being and the Environment (BIMeTIC), together with three of their teachers, visited PLOCAN’s facilities.
The visit forms part of the teaching content of the Masters programme, with its principal objective being to show the students, in addition to the terrestrial headquarters of PLOCAN's infrastructure, the various capabilities, strands of work, and scientific and technological activities – both operational and educational – presently carried out at PLOCAN, in order to highlight potential professional opportunities within the scope of ITC and its applications in the marine and maritime sectors.
The fifth meeting of the partners of the European COLUMBUS project (Monitoring, Managing and Transferring Marine and Maritime Knowledge for Sustainable Blue Growth) was organised in the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology in Lisbon. The aim of COLUMBUS project is to capitalise on the significant research done by the EU in the marine and maritime sectors by guaranteeing access to and comprehension of research results for end users: politics, industry, science and society in general.
The COLUMBUS Project has 26 partners from 11 European countries, including PLOCAN, it lasts for 36 months and is funded by the Horizon 2020 programme. The meeting was held on the 23rd and 24th of February.
Ole Johan Sandvaer, director of Innovation Norway for Africa, and the assistant to the Trade and Tourism Attaché from the Norwegian Embassy, Rodrigo Ballesteros Cruz, visited the PLOCAN facilities in Taliarte. Innovation Norway is a tool of the Norwegian government used to innovate and develop Norwegian companies and industry.
Ole Johan Sandvaer and Rodrigo Ballesteros Cruz met with Joaquín Hernández Brito, manager of the scientific-technical area and were given a tour of PLOCAN’s land-based facilities. In the glider laboratory, they were given detailed information on the activities that PLOCAN is engaged in with these autonomous submarine devices.