Abstract
Capturing the complexities of the common research challenges both the EU and US face is a goal of public policies when using as a framework the global risks posed by marine litter, particularly plastics. To turn the theory of industry 5.0 into practice, the full participation of all actors concerned with the use of ocean space could be useful to design research links between the initiatives launched by the European Commission and the American Federal Government. The chapter indicates that while a common data model is defined by the US Federal Agency specialized in dealing with the marine environment, the European focus is on interoperability between State Members. The research raises awareness on the marine plastic problem by recognizing that ocean literacy is critical to educate the public. Moreover, an examination concerning the discovery of these data (where this kind of marine litter data can be found), their access (confidentiality, intellectual propriety rights), and use (by the public sector, fisheries sector) are also offered in this study.
TopLiterature Review
In response to the current lack of a global repository of data on the distribution of marine plastic in our seas and oceans, industry 5.0 solutions can help provide the digital backbone instrumental in bringing the challenges of plastic pollution in the ocean to the international agenda (Jensen & Campbell, 2019). More precisely, they propose to leave the monotonous, repetitive challenges for mechanics and open up the creative side for humans (Breque et al., 2021). With this process of enhancing the capabilities of human workers, it is easier to infer the correct ontological structure, as the same classification of plastic waste can be done in different ways with different schemes that require manual analysis to compare them (Sawarkar & Kodati, 2021). An immutable source of data and a traceable and verifiable record of who is sharing what and with whom requires considering that the way open data systems for marine plastics is managed greatly influences how approaches to dealing with them are developed (Kerber & Kramm, 2022).
The conceptual approach of this study is that allowing parties interested to communicate on a common technological platform and vision must be stressed to address the factors at play in the marine plastics pollution problem (Barrowclough & Birkbeck, 2022). This problem arises from simultaneous cooperation and competition, which usually contrast with one another (UNEP, 2022). However, considering that European seas contain around 400 kg per km2 of plastic and that over 13 000 pieces of plastic litter are floating on every square kilometer of the ocean (Macfadyen et al., 2009), marine plastic data management should be assigned higher priority as a powerful lever of change. Furthermore, oceans of plastic waste off the coasts of the United States and European countries have increased similarly to the level of plastic production until recently (Yohannan, 2020) (Eckstein, 2012). To increase knowledge levels concerning these ocean and coastal issues, with public and media campaigns, it is important to investigate potential explanations of the ocean knowledge gap to develop approaches to close it (Steel et al., 2005).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Ocean Governance: approaches to coastal and ocean management, emphasizing moral, ethical, and legal values.
Microplastics: particles of plastic < 5 mm in diameter.
Knowledge Integration: synthesizing a set of knowledge diagrams into a standard model.
Data Model: includes the documentation and definition of data in a database.
Public Knowledge: the knowledge that is available to anyone.
Ocean Literacy: a driver of awareness, control, and change addressing the human exploitation of the oceans.
Awareness: a state of attention to something.
Data Policy: an agreed set of rules that regulates the production, use, and dissemination of data.
Marine Plastic: plastic released into the marine environment, including plastic waste, textile fibers, tire dust, microbeads in cosmetics, and fishing nets.
Industry 5.0: a mode of production that sees the relationship between man and machine as collaborative rather than competitive.
Marine Litter: any persistent, manufactured, or processed solid material discarded, disposed of, or abandoned in the marine and coastal environment.