On June 8, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO sent a formal letter congratulating the official approval of the Digital Deep-sea Typical Habitats Programme (Digital DEPTH). Led by the China Deep Ocean Affairs Administration and headed by Academician Li Jiabiao of the SIO, this Programme was attended and jointly initiated by experts from 64 institutions in 39 countries of 6 continents.

As the fourth batch of “action plans” approved by the United Nations Ocean Decade, the “Digital DEPTH” is the only big science program approved in the world, and the only big science program focusing on the deep sea among the five big science programs approved in China to date, which will further enhance China’s global influence and competitiveness in the field of deep sea research and governance. The steering committee members of this big science program also include top experts in international deep-sea scientific research and management, such as Dr. Karim Hilmi, Vice Chairman of the IOC, and Professor Kouadio Affian, Chairman of the IOC Africa Committee.

The Digital DEPTH big science program focuses on the core scientific blind spots and key technical difficulties in the field of global deep-sea environmental governance. Over the next decade, it will focus on the parts of deep-sea habitats most vulnerable to human activities and global changes, including the ocean bottom zones and mesopelagic zones of seamounts, mid-ocean ridges, continental slopes and submarine plains, to improve our observation, simulation and mapping capabilities for these typical deep-sea habitats, thereby helping humanity to find the best solution to achieve a balance between deep-sea conservation and sustainable development.

This Programme will utilize advanced technologies to conduct deep-sea scientific research, build intelligent observation systems, and promote data and samples sharing; reveal the cross-habitat connectivity and information transfer process of multi-scale matter and energy by developing habitat mapping and numerical simulation techniques; be committed to building an “observation-simulation-prediction” digital platform, providing “digital deep-sea habitat atlas” public products, and updating deep-sea zoning management tools; exchange knowledge and experience in deep-sea science and management with the younger generation, especially those from small island developing countries, least developed countries and landlocked developing countries.

As one of the core units, the SIO has focused on the scientific research and business support of the deep ocean, and has carried out long-term and fruitful researches around the two core topics of deep sea utilization and deep sea protection in the past 30 years: as the main scientific application team, provided important support for the successful development of the whole series of deep-sea exploration equipment represented by the “Jiaolong” manned submersible, the “Sea Dragon” series ROV, the “Qianlong” series AUV and the “Yilong” series underwater glider; took the lead in proposing the “Natural Variability of Baseline (NaVaBa) Program” suitable for the actual needs of deep ocean environmental monitoring and was highly recognized by the International Seabed Authority; first promoted and launched the International Seabed Authority’s “Northwest Pacific Regional Environmental Management Program” and compiled the only technical report of International Seabed Authority ever written by scientists from developing countries so far. All these important efforts have laid a key foundation for the implementation of the Digital DEPTH big science program.