MUSCAT, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- An international conference on "Ocean Economy and Future Technology" kicked off here on Monday.

The three-day conference, which continues until Wednesday, touches upon the trends that are forming the future ocean economy, ocean sustainable development, digital ocean and ocean data.

More than 900 participants from 30 countries will also discuss future ocean technologies with emphasis on operational enhancements, emerging oceanology business opportunities, regulatory challenges, and the impact on current and future careers.

"From a purely operational perspective, science diplomacy has to be linked to economic programs impacting the Omani society, in a way that is based on innovation and economic diversification," said Dr. Yousuf Al Balushi, head of science and technology at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the first day discussion, Ferial El-Hawary, a professor at Dalhousie University, mentioned that the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) has many uses in the ocean economy, such as environmental monitoring, underwater exploration and disaster prevention.

"There are two issues facing IoUT: increasing connectivity between sensors and data centers, and charging the sensors. We look at future generations to continue developing this sector, and encourage organizations to support them," she noted.

However, Omar Christidis, founder and CEO of ArabNet, elaborated that "we need to integrate entrepreneurial initiatives to the ocean economy through three things: informing shareholders about opportunities, developing and adopting talents, as well as refreshing business culture."