A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section “Sustainability, Biodiversity and Conservation“.
Special Issue Editors
Prof. Dr. Maurizio Migliaccio
Prof. Dr. Marco Ferreti
Prof. Dr. Giorgio Budillon
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The United Nations has recently promoted this decade for ocean science for sustainable development (2021–2030). It is an action that, on one hand, recognizes the relevance of the marine realm as a pillar of Earth’s ecosystem but, on the other hand, also considers economic growth and growing factors. In fact, the marine environment is a vital and direct source of nourishment for about 0.5 billion people in the world and is of paramount importance for economic sectors, including fisheries, transport, tourism, energy production among many others.
It is well known that economists and environmentalists were not traditionally on the same side, opposing each other for years. The environment was meant as an external resource to be exploited at best. However, recent years have been demonstrating that the Earth’s ecosystem is fragile, and it is not possible to keep exploiting the environment as an external resource of no economic value. The awareness about the fragility of the Earth’s ecosystem and, hence, the fragility of the human beings living on the planet has promoted new economic views. Such a fragility is structural, not incidental, and all this has been further emphasized by the COVID pandemic.
These facts impose paradigmatic changes in our economy, for example, fishing and aquaculture have their roots in an ancient tradition and, in recent years, have been able to create work for important portions of the coastal populations; however, to be sustainable, they must be rethought. At the global level, having the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on a white paper is relevant for promoting the space science for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
This Special Issue focuses on one key question: “Can new technologies support such profound change?”
We invite all potential authors to contribute to such a fundamental topic with special reference to the marine environment, and the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) science can support both the environmental monitoring and preservation of the marine environment and the best use of marine resources. ICT, along with uses of new low-carbon energy sources, will impact the near future and far future of the marine environment and industry.
Some direct applications of ICT to the marine environment are related to the monitoring of the seas, e.g., satellite remote sensing of sea geophysical parameters, pollution and human activities at sea but also special robots that can patrol the bottom of the sea and the coastal areas.
Some other direct applications of ICT are about shipping where it can be exploited to transform a conservative sector into a high-tech one, enhancing both to enhance shipping safety, lower the carbon emission and minimize routes and costs.
Of course, marine explorations, including polar regions, can greatly benefit from in situ and remote ICT sensors.
Last but not least, ICT can support the monitoring of some particularly endangered ecosystems, such as atolls, that risk disappearing because of sea-level rise and, in general, can support the systems that are meant to mitigate the effects of natural hazards.
Contributions that focus on the economic impact of such ICT benefits are also very much welcome.
Prof. Dr. Maurizio Migliaccio
Prof. Dr. Marco Ferretti
Prof. Dr. Giorgio Budillon
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI’s English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2022.
More info here: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/ocean_science_ict