ASN confirms that the development of the Climate Change Solution is on-going, including the integration of scientific sensors inside submerged plant bodies along telecommunication cables. This new generation of submarine network is set to revolutionize the telecommunications industry by integrating advanced sensing technologies while keeping performance levels of SDM submarine telecom systems.
Integration of these new technologies will offer a unique opportunity for the telecom industry to play a critical role in addressing some of the most pressing global challenges. The innovative solution, combining SMART (Scientific Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications) and other ASN sensing technologies, will enable the network to serve three key applications domains, namely climate change observation, seismic and tsunami detection, and asset integrity protection.
These new generation networks will detect and monitor seismic and tsunami events, providing early warning signals helping to save lives and minimize the damage caused by natural disasters.
The system will also provide real-time monitoring and data collection capabilities that will enable scientists and researchers to study and understand the changes happening in the ocean environment, facilitating the development of effective measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goal #13 (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal13).
Integration of fiber sensing technologies including the high performance ASN OptoDAS Acoustic Sensing product and future sensing capabilities of ASN SLTE will complement the collection of scientific data and will provide the asset integrity protection feature of the system with real-time monitoring capabilities of such subsea infrastructure.
Alain Biston, ASN CEO stated in September 2020: “From now on, tackling climate change is an intrinsic part of our strategy and will drive our decisions. This approach will also be a catalyst for innovation and investment in the years to come”. With the Climate Change technologies now in active development phase, and cooperation in place with key scientific organizations, ASN is now confirming its commitment to place environmental challenges in the core of its strategy.
Bruce Howe, Chair of the ITU/WMO/UNESCO-IOC SMART Cables Joint Task Force stated “I welcome this announcement by ASN indicating they are continuing support of the SMART concept combining environmental sensing with connectivity for overall societal benefit. Such steps will encourage the entire submarine cable industry to include SMART capabilities in future systems.”
