AUTOMA: AI marine monitoring for the blue economy

Why the Blue Economy matters now and for the future

The Blue Economy is a pillar of the sustainable transition: it safeguards marine ecosystems, enables new value chains, and creates benefits for communities and businesses. In this landscape, technology isn’t the goal, it’s an enabler of sustainability. It collects reliable data, accelerates decisions, and turns ocean complexity into actionable knowledge.

At 20tab, we put innovation at the service of people and the future. Through our Product Team as a Service model, multidisciplinary teams - developers, designers, product managers, and marketers - work with an Agile, data-driven mindset to design, build, and scale digital solutions. Our values - inclusion, people-centricity, and sustainability - guide our choices across monitoring systems, decision support, and intelligent data management.

We’ve partnered with CONAI on circular-economy initiatives like differENTI, and with AstraKode we built ReTrace, a blockchain platform for certifying and tracing sustainable supply chains - proof that digital innovation can accelerate the ecological transition.

AUTOMA: what it is, how it works, and who it serves

AUTOMA is our open-access next-generation marine monitoring platform, developed with EdgeLab, Superfici, and Pelagosphera, and funded by the European Union within the National Biodiversity Future Center.

In a single workflow, AUTOMA blends underwater robotics, real-time data collection, and scientific research to identify and monitor invasive alien species and assess their impact on marine ecosystems.

How it works (at a glance):

• Species selection: marine biologists define target species and impact metrics.
• Data collection: AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) with sensors and cameras capture imagery and environmental parameters in real time.
• Analysis & delivery: validated outputs are shared via dashboards and predictive models to support timely decisions.

Who it’s for:

• Marine biologists and environmental researchers needing accurate, scalable datasets.
• Marine Protected Areas and public bodies seeking scientific monitoring tools.
• Citizen-science communities, engaging divers and enthusiasts to gather data during recreational dives.

Putting Artificial Intelligence at the center of AUTOMA

The technology core of AUTOMA is Artificial Intelligence designed to amplify, not replace, human expertise.

• Species recognition: computer vision models classify species in underwater imagery using curated, continuously updated datasets.
• Quality & transparency: confidence metrics and human-in-the-loop checks boost reliability and support explainability.
• Prediction & alerts: predictive models estimate potential spread of invasive species to plan interventions and protect biodiversity.
• Operational scalability: AI shortens analysis time, enables more frequent monitoring campaigns, and reduces cost per square kilometer monitored.
• Privacy & security: responsible data governance with privacy-by-design and clear sharing policies for collaborative yet secure usage.

The result: more timely and accurate data that become actionable insights, accelerating decisions for those who protect the ocean.

Partnership and vision

AUTOMA is built at the intersection of scientific and technological expertise.

For us, AI is a force multiplier: it turns large data volumes into insight, freeing people to focus on what matters - designing strategies, protecting ecosystems, and acting in time.

It’s the same philosophy we apply to every challenge: combining innovation, strategy, and experimentation to deliver real impact for businesses, communities, and the environment.