The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) (President Kim Woongseo) announced the opening of its self-constructed KIOST Big Data Analytic Platform (KIBIG) and launch of services, starting from Monday, March 2, 2020.

A big data analytic platform is a computer environment that applies or utilizes big data analytical technologies. This type of platform is increasingly being utilized in a variety of sectors as it can replace many of the functions of super computers.

KIBIG is a big data analytical platform constructed primarily for research in the fields of marine fisheries and science and combines open-source data analysis software for KIOST staff with KIOST technologies. The platform is expected to significantly contribute to strengthening competition in related research areas.

 The platform was constructed using an on-premise* method that enables exclusive access through an isolated or closed network within the KIOST to ensure the proper handling of high-security research data. In the future, if the information on the platform is needed by outside organizations, KIOST experts will actively engage in collaboration and joint research, providing analysis and consultation services.
* On-premise: Installation of software and other solutions on a computer server rather than in a remote environment, such as Cloud.

Tests have already been conducted showing the utilization of KIBIG.

The KIBIG has been applied to the Ship Activity Extraction Algorithm that uses the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and V-Pass,  which were developed by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in 2018 as part of its Research to Construct Marine Spatial Planning (MSP ). Using the KIBIG, researchers have been able to categorize the velocity and movement patterns of all the ships that traveled through the waters around Busan and South Gyeongsang Province in 2018 and succeeded in quantitatively estimating the distribution of activity in the water, creating a map for visualization.

Using the new platform, researchers are also able to process 100GB of data in just a few minutes, quickly completing analytical tasks that are difficult for a personal computer to handle.

According to Choi Hyunwoo, Director of the Marine Bigdata Center, “With the development and operation of KIBIG, the KIOST has secured the foundations for new marine big data research, the development of services, and convergence research between big data and AI.” He added, “We plan to expand KIBIG services to support and satisfy big data needs in the areas of oceans and fisheries in Korea and AI convergence research.”？