Building digital collaboration in the water sector together
15 October 2025 – DigiShape meeting at Deltares in Delft
From shipping accidents to mangroves and from foggy ports to the digital dike: the DigiShape Open Source Platforms Day offered plenty of inspiration and collaboration.
The theme of the day was the DigiShape Open Source Platform (D-OSP) – a TKI project in which various DigiShape partners work together to accelerate digital collaboration in the water sector. The D-OSP project focuses on removing barriers that still stand in the way of digital collaboration in the water sector – think of trust, interoperability (making different digital systems work well together) and shared infrastructure. Breaking through these barriers will make it easier to share data and knowledge, and AI techniques can be applied more widely in the water sector.
Workshops: from shipping accidents to mangroves
The morning started with two parallel workshops, each dealing with a concrete use case from the D-OSP project.
In the first session, ‘Data-driven reconstruction of shipping accidents’, Fedor Baart of Rijkswaterstaat took the participants through the use case Captain Hindsight, part of the D-OSP project. He showed how data analysis and modelling can help to better understand and prevent collisions with bridges. On the basis of a collision in Baltimore, where a ship hit a bridge, he showed how such analyses can contribute to safer waterways in the Netherlands. “By better understanding the behaviour of ships, we can estimate the risks of collisions with bridges much more precisely,” he explained. “If we have a better understanding of how often ships sail close to bridges, with what mass this happens and which situations almost go wrong, we will also know where measures will have the most effect.
The session attracted a full house with a diverse audience. During the workshop, Fedor also tested new infrastructure that makes it possible to “compute with the data” – i.e. to execute models directly in the environment where the data is located. This allows organizations to perform analytics without having to move large data sets, increasing collaboration and data security. The test was successful: participants were able to start working with the shared computing environment immediately during the session.
Sheets shipping accident analysis Fedor Baart (pdf)
In the second workshop, ‘Mangrove Opportunity Wheel’, Mario Fuentes Monjaraz and Jan Boersma from Deltares explained how global datasets can be used to map promising areas for mangrove restoration. Participants gained insight into how factors such as sediment dynamics, flood risk and local conditions together determine where recovery is promising. The tool, which combines different data sources in an interactive viewer, shows how data analysis can help to better plan and monitor nature restoration projects worldwide.
Sheets Mangrove Opportunity Wheel (pdf)
Plenary session: Cloud Infra Assessment
The workshops were followed by a plenary session in which Floris Langeraert of Deltares presented the results of the D-OSP work package Infrastructure and interoperability. The aim of this work package is to gain experience in setting up an interoperable multi-cloud environment in which partners can collaborate securely and efficiently on data-intensive applications. The emphasis is on the use and sharing of data – a prerequisite for accelerating digital collaboration in the water sector.
The presented infrastructure is not only developed, but also actively tested and used within the use cases of the D-OSP project. This makes this work package an important connecting link: the technical basis on which the other projects build.
Sheets Floris Langeraert: Cloud Infra Assessment (pdf)
Dragon’s Den seedmoney pitches
During lunch, three project proposals were pitched for the DigiShape seedmoney in 2025. At the end of the day, the DigiShape core team determined that all proposals will be awarded €10,000 this year. Read more in this news item
The projects:
- KLIC at Sea: one reliable, secure data source for cables and pipelines in the North Sea. Partners: Periplus, Rijkswaterstaat and Van Oord.
- PortVision: an AI model that predicts visibility in ports 48 hours ahead. Partners: HKV, Port of Rotterdam Authority and Pythia Energy Intelligence.
- Digital Dike: proof-of-concept for a digital twin of the dike structure with a focus on the subsurface. Partners: BZIM, HHNK and Deltares.
Plenary session: TKI Delta Technology
After the Dragon’s Den lunch, Aniek Bruens and Stephan van der Biezen of the TKI Delta Technology agency explained the developments within the TKI instrument. It was explained how TKIs support innovation projects that are in line with social challenges, and how public-private partnerships such as DigiShape fit into this.
Afternoon session: building on the ideas
In the afternoon, participants continued to work in groups on the three pitched seed money ideas. For each project, objectives, intended results, approach, activities and partners involved were discussed. This created new connections with ongoing initiatives and possible sources of funding. In this way, the project proposals were immediately enriched with knowledge and experiences from practice.
Sophie de Roda Husman (PortVision): “Tijdens de brainstorm kreeg ik meteen allerlei nieuwe contacten en ideeën. Inzicht van de dag: slecht zicht en mist zijn niet alleen voor de watersector een grote uitdaging, maar ook voor andere sectoren, zoals de weg- en energiesector.”
In the coming months, we will provide regular updates on the progress of the projects.
Learning and developing together
The day ended with a drink full of conversations about next steps and new collaborations. The DigiShape day once again showed what DigiShape stands for: open innovation, knowledge sharing and building a digital water sector together that makes a difference worldwide.
