Italy's WSense is the world's most innovative enterprise in data collection and management for the purpose of protecting the ocean environment. This was determined by the World Economic Forum-which just concluded in Davos-which selected it as the only Italian company and awarded it the Ocean Data Challenge, as part of the session "The Earth Data Revolution."

An international excellence in the frontier of the Internet of Underwater Things, WSense is a deep-tech company, born as a spinoff of La Sapienza University of Rome and specialized in underwater monitoring and communication systems.

Based on patented technologies, these systems use acoustic waves (similar to those used by dolphins, but without interfering with them) and wireless optical technologies that have paved the way for the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT).

A potential global market, that of underwater wireless communication, which is estimated at $3.5 billion in which it is expected to grow by 22 percent annually through 2027. Active since 2017, WSense now boasts a team of more than 40 engineers and researchers-with offices in Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom.

WSense's technology consists of shallow and deepwater hardware and software components to deploy and manage a subsea internet network infrastructure operating up to 3,000 meters deep. The installed systems, which do not impact the seafloor, enable real-time monitoring of marine and ocean environments (water quality, sounds, currents, movement of structures and anchorages) and provide crucial information to research institutions and those working in all sectors of the Blue Economy: environmental quality, aquaculture, ports, and critical infrastructure, including energy infrastructure such as gas pipelines, oil pipelines, mining platforms, and electricity transmission cables. The solutions ensure interoperability and connectivity between underwater sensors from any manufacturer and autonomous robotic vehicles through the use of proprietary patented technologies that enable secure real-time communications between reliable and cost-effective network nodes.

"This year's World Economic Forum remarked how climate change poses the greatest near-term risk to humanity. Monitoring of the oceans, but also of closed seas such as the Mediterranean, is critical. - commented WSense CEO Chiara Petrioli. "The oceans absorb about a third of the CO2 produced by anthropogenic activities, and we are facing the drama of marine pollution, chemicals, as well as plastics and microplastics. Our systems promise to shed light on what is happening at depth: sensors that can be attached to our underwater communication systems are able to monitor 24 hours a day the concentration of any foreign substance in the original marine environment, sounding alarms and enabling targeted cleanup and remediation interventions."