Milestones

JTF SMART Cable Key Milestones

  • Prima and Alcatel Submarine Networks Announce the World’s First SMART Cable Project, Tam-Tam, Connecting Vanuatu and New Caledonia, Combining Telecommunications and Scientific Observation

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  • In December 2023, Güralp, working with Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), successfully deployed the Worlds first ‘SMART Cable’ to monitor seismic activity on the floor of the Ionian Sea.

    The 21 km SMART (Science Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications) cable, is an

    innovative system developed by Güralp in partnership with INGV for the Italian InSEA SMART Cable Wet Demonstrator project.

    Full article here

  • Alcatel Submarine Networks, part of Nokia, leads the industry in terms of transmission capacity and installed base with more than 650,000 km of optical submarine systems deployed worldwide, enough to circumnavigate the globe 15 times. From traditional Telecom applications to Content and “Over The Top” Service Provider infrastructures, as well as to offshore Oil and Gas applications, ASN provides all elements of turnkey global undersea transmission systems, tailored to individual customer’s needs. An extensive Services portfolio completes its comprehensive offering for the submarine business, including project management, installation and commissioning, along with marine and maintenance operations performed by ASN’s wholly owned fleet of cable ships.

    Full article here.

  • SMART Cables for Observing the Global Ocean: Science and Implementation

    Howe et al. Front. Mar. Sci., 02 August 2019 Sec. Ocean Observation Volume 6 - 2019 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00424

    The ocean is key to understanding societal threats including climate change, sea level rise, ocean warming, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Because the ocean is difficult and costly to monitor, we lack fundamental data needed to adequately model, understand, and address these threats. One solution is to integrate sensors into future undersea telecommunications cables.

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  • From space to the deep seafloor: Using SMART submarine cable systems in the ocean observing system.

    The ITU/WMO/UNESCO IOC Joint Task Force (JTF) was established in 2012 to investigate the use of submarine telecommunications cables for ocean and climate monitoring and disaster warning. These workshops reported on herein were an outgrowth of the JTF effort, the first in-depth scientific meetings to consider the topic.

    Full article here.

  • The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO/IOC), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) established the Joint Task Force (JTF) on SMART cable systems in late 2012 after Works​hops in Rome (2011) and Paris (2012). Chris Barnes and David Meldrum were selected as the first Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, of JTF in December 2012.

JTF Whitepapers

  • Joint Task Force to investigate the potential of using submarine telecommunication cables for ocean and climate monitoring and disaster warning.

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  • Joint Task Force to investigate the potential of using submarine telecommunication cables for ocean and climate monitoring and disaster warning.

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Peer Reviewed Publications

  • Rowe, et al. Front Earth Sci. 9:686296. https://www. frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart. 2021.686296.

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  • Howe et al. Front. Earth Sci., 07 February 2022, Sec. Solid Earth Geophysics, Volume 9 - 2021. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.775544

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  • Howe, et al. “Observing the ocean and earth with SMART cables”. Environment Coastal & Offshore, UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, Special Issue In Partnership with IOC-UNESCO, chapter 4: A Safe Ocean, 2021.

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  • Howe et al. Front. Mar. Sci., 02 August 2019, Sec. Ocean Observation Volume 6 - 2019 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00424 2019

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  • Howe and Lentz, 2018

    The underlying paper (abstract) will be published as part of the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering soon after the conference.

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  • N. Ranasinghe, C. Rowe, E. Syracuse, C. Larmat, M. Begnaud, 2017

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  • Bruce Howe, 2017

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  • Bruce Howe and Kate Panayotou, 2017

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  • This study researched four categories (International Development Agencies, Foundations, Governmental Agencies and Private Companies) of potential funding source for the Green Cables Initiative. For each category, potential funders were identified and were rated as to the likelihood of funding.

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JTF Workshops

  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​19 - 20 January 2023​ in Honolulu, United States

    The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)​ and the IOC-UNESCO Joint Task Force on “SMART Cables” organized a workshop from 19 to 20 January 2023 at the University of Hawaii, Mānoa Campus in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America, from 8h00 – 17h00 (UTC -10) each day. Remote participation was offered for this workshop. ​

    Read more. Watch the recording here.

  • 20 January 2022 in Honolulu, United States

    Download presentations here. Download the recording here.

  • 12 April 2019 in New Orleans, United States

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  • 13 November 2017 in Brest, France

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  • 17-18 April 2016 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Read more.. Workshop agenda.

  • 16-17 October 2014, Singapore

    Read more. Workshop agenda.

  • 16-20 Sept. 2013 in Madrid, Spain

    Read more.

  • 20-21 September 2012 in Paris, France

    Read more.

  • 8-9 September 2011 in Rome, Italy

    Read more.

Other Documents

  • Howe, B. M., and Workshop Participants (2015), From space to the deep seafloor: Using SMART submarine cable systems in the ocean observing system, Report of NASA Workshops, 9–10 October 2014, Pasadena, CA, and 26–28 May 2015, Honolulu, HI. SOEST Contribution 9549.

    Download here