This presentation argues that Regional Digital Twins of the Ocean (RDTOs) provide ideal symbiotic ecosystems to contribute to the UN Ocean Decade's call for transformation in ocean sciences. Drawing on 17 years of experience at SOCIB as a multiplatform research infrastructure, it develops a strategic framework for building integrated, science-based and purpose-driven digital twins. Key topics include: the NAS (2024) definition of digital twins and the importance of bidirectional interaction; the need for organizational and cultural transformation at institutional level; strategy design following the Strategy Choice Cascade (Roger Martin, HBR); the application of Principles when dealing with complex systems, PRFAQ and AGILE approaches to reduce silos and foster co-design; and a call for open science as a driver of cultural change in oceanography. SOCIB DTO prototypes in the Balearic Sea (meteotsunami early warning, marine protected area monitoring, climate change adaptation) are presented as concrete regional contributions aligned with EDITO, DITTO, and CoastPredict.
Tintoré et al. (Tue,) studied this question.