Marine Log - May 2008 - (Page 22)

EUROPEANTECHNOLOGY pean economies) is nearly 50%. In many instances, it is the marine equipment industry that actually drives innovation and progress in the sector.” Europeans—and European Commission staffers—see “clustering” as having a great deal to do with all this. The EC document defines clusters as “geographic concentrations of interconnected companies and institutions in a particular field” or “geographically colocated end producers, suppliers, service providers, research laboratories, educational institutions, and other institutions in a given economic field.” This also implies that there is: a critical mass of companies active in various parts of the relevant value chain; enhanced cooperation and keen competition between the different actors in the cluster and proximity of suppliers and service providers. “Clusters can help in increasing the productivity of companies, drive innovation and productivity growth, stimulate the formation of related, new businesses and make the whole greater than the sum of its parts,” says the Commission document. The EU is so convinced of the benefits ICE CLASS TANKERS of clusters that it is now seeing if they can be nurtured, fostered and propagated like seedlings. One such effort is InterMareC, a cooperation project between the three coastal regions Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, Brittany in France and Pomorskie in Poland—which are in no way contiguous! All three are peripheral regions that can benefit from direct access to the sea and the related maritime sector. However, their maritime potential is at present insufficiently used. InterMareC is an effort to unite them within a single maritime cluster. EU funding is being put into the project and workshops, seminars, congresses and fairs are being held. Oh yes, it also has the services of a “cluster consultant.” Let us wish InterMareC well and look beyond clusters to other ways in which Europeans are striving to maintain their competitive edge in marine technology. RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION The European maritime industry sees RDI (Research, Development and Innovation) as key to its future success and has come together within the awkwardly named “Waterborne Technology Development Platform” (which in some ways can be seen as a cluster of clusters). It has put together a comprehensive, targeted plan that will take the industry to where it needs to be—and that can get its fair share of EU RDI funding. Core to the plan are a number of “Desired Exploitation Outcomes” such as the “Low Risk Ship” and “Energy Transport in Extreme Conditions.” As a result of massive, cross-industry effort, Waterborne has now produced Waterborne Integrated Route Map 2007 (WIRM 2007), which is made up of a series of very detailed route maps for achieving each of the outcomes. The route maps are “living documents” that can be adjusted in light of real world developments and set out timelines for accomplishing the various RDI projects needed to bring about each “desired outcome.” WIRM 2007 is an 86-page PDF, so don’t expect a comprehensive summary here. Instead, download it from: http://www.waterborne-tp.org ML 22 MARINE LOG MAY 2008 www.marinelog.com http://www.waterborne-tp.org http://www.haynesco.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - May 2008

Marine Log - May 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Europe Plots Its Tech Strategy SDNV Container Ship Update Diesels Can Burn Anything: Even Clean Fuel Boost for Small Shipyards Gateway to the Caribbean Room to Grow Show Review Tech News Newsmakers Contracts Events Website Directory ML Buyer's Guide ML Marketplace Maritime Salvage Letters

Marine Log - May 2008

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