Basis for better infrastructure data in the North Sea
The DigiShape seedmoney project KLIC at Sea from 2025 has been completed. Together with Rijkswaterstaat, Periplus investigated how to work towards an up-to-date, reliable and safe database for cables and pipelines in the North Sea. This is the next step in an issue that is becoming increasingly important now that the North Sea is being used more intensively and the increased geopolitical tensions.
From fragmented data to a common basis
The reason for KLIC at Sea is that information about cables and pipelines is managed in different places and is not always recorded in the same way. This can lead to uncertainty in spatial planning, licensing and work at sea, among other things. The seedmoney project therefore focused on four questions: which infrastructure databases are used, which parameters and metadata are essential, which steps are needed for realisation and where should the ownership lie?
Periplus carried out most of the research, with contributions from Rijkswaterstaat. Existing data were compared with each other and interviews were held with, among others, Rijkswaterstaat, Informatiehuis Marien and the Hydrographic Service. Based on this, it has been shown that there are differences in the databases.
Between openness and sensitivity
“The seed money project has clearly put the problem on the agenda,” says project leader Bart van Mierlo of Periplus. “The interviewees were very open and at the same time you notice that more caution arises the deeper you dive into the data on cables and pipes. That makes sense, because it is also about our security. And yet everyone sees that good data is needed for safe shipping. In that tension lies the dualism of this issue.”
Another challenge was to translate the technical content in such a way that policymakers can also properly assess the urgency. “If we want to get something done together, the policymakers must understand and appreciate the problem,” says Bart.
From seed money to sequel
With KLIC at Sea, the issue has now been brought into concrete shape and is also on the agenda of those involved. There is a clearer picture of how a follow-up can be tackled and discussions about this have already been scheduled.
For DigiShape, the project shows what seed money can yield in an early phase. An issue that had been known to many parties for some time was jointly investigated and put on paper. This provides a basis for continuing to work on an up-to-date, reliable and complete picture of the infrastructure at sea.
Contact
Do you have any questions or would you like to think about the follow-up process? Please contact Bart van Mierlo (Periplus) or Sjoerd Conijn (Rijkswaterstaat).
