PLOCAN has strengthened its position as a benchmark infrastructure for the development and operation of Marine Autonomous Systems (MAS) through its presentation at the Maritime User Conference 2026, held this week at the headquarters of EXAIL. At the event, PLOCAN presented its capabilities and services focused on ocean digitalisation to more than 200 professionals from the system development and service provision industry, academia, research, government agencies and regulatory bodies involved in these cutting-edge marine observation systems.
The main objective of the event was to showcase both the latest international developments in marine autonomous systems, vehicles and platforms, as well as the associated capabilities that enable different operations in coastal and oceanic environments to be carried out more efficiently, safely and sustainably. This responds to the diverse needs of operators, users and society at large, all within the global context of ocean digitalisation.
PLOCAN contributed to the conference by highlighting its capabilities as a service infrastructure for the development, validation and operation of autonomous technologies aimed at the observation and digitalisation of the marine environment. This activity forms part of the objectives of the *AI Services Innovation* project, an initiative that strengthens PLOCAN’s role as a key platform for driving advanced solutions and their transfer to the technological and operational ecosystem.
The 2026 edition was structured around four sessions (digitalisation, ocean exploration, operational optimisation and naval autonomy), addressing a wide range of highly relevant topics such as sustainability and “zero-emissions” capability, new users and applications, service digitalisation, data management and the generation of high-value information, planning and control of operations, new technologies and support tools for marine autonomous systems (Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, etc.), and the regulatory framework for operations, among others.
