GCE Subsea at Ocean Seminar in Rio de Janeiro

GCE Subsea participated and presented at the seminar «Ocean of Opportunities – Ocean Industries and Technology Seminar» during the first Norwegian-Brazilian Business and Science Week in Brazil in November.

The seminar was part of the first Norwegian-Brazilian Business and Science Week, which took place in Brazil this November, featuring 14 events in four different cities.

A Norwegian delegation headed by Deputy Minister of Oil and Energy, Ingvil Smines Tybring-Gjedde was in Brazil to attend the many events, and CEO of GCE Subsea, Owe Hagesæther and R&D Manager Gisle Nondal were also in Brazil for the Business and Science Week.

Ocean of Opportunities Seminar

During the panel debate «An Ocean of Potentials», Owe Hagesæther shared GCE Subsea´s crossover strategies and experiences on implementing the Ocean Strategy that the Norwegian government launched earlier this year.

– Almost everything we have learned and know about underwater technology, originates from the oil and gas sector, and to capitalise more on this, we are now transforming technologies and knowledge to speed up and innovate related industries like seafood farming and offshore renewables, Hagesæther stated.

He also outlined some of the initiatives in his keynote speech; – GCE Subsea has organised workshops, lectures and seminars on aquaculture, and mapped the challenges to find out where the oil and gas industry could contribute with knowledge and solutions. We want to match oil and gas knowledge with aquaculture to develop next generation seafood farms. One example is the use of sensors and integrated monitoring.

Ocean Industry Accelerator

GCE Subsea has also been part of initiating the Ocean Industries Accelerator (OIA) at Vitensenteret in Bergen, an incubator for start-up cooperation, as well as initiatives to speed up commercialisation of innovation.

The results thus far, are positive, according to Hagesæther.

– Several companies have managed to enter new sectors or have plans to do so. This is also a way to bring down operational risk, giving you more than one leg to stand on. In addition it contributes securing company cash flow, so it definitely works, Hagesæther concluded.

The Ocean Strategy

The Ocean Seminar was divided in to several sessions, and gathered more than 200 participants.

Deputy Minister Ingvil SminesTybring-Gjedde opened the seminar with a presentation of the strategy.

– The Norwegian government wants to make sustainable use of the ocean a global priority, and we are putting the ocean at the top of our political agenda. According to OECD, the ocean could double its contribution to the world economy by 2030. In Norway, the ocean industries account for more than 70 per cent of our export earnings.

We expect that knowledge transfer across ocean industries will increase, and it is fundamental to use synergies to create new growth, employment and innovation. We want to realise this potential in a clean and sustainable way. Norway and Brazil both have long coastlines and we can learn from each other´s ocean experiences, Smines Tybring-Gjedde said.

The November Conference

GCE Subsea also attended and presented at the November Conference 6 – 7 November in Rio. Gisle Nondal, R&D Manager at GCE Subsea spoke about the strengthened collaboration, innovation and internationalisation of the subsea industry.

The conference gathers representatives from academia, universities, private research institutions and other relevant stakeholders in Norway and Brazil, with the ambition of fostering and promoting more state of the art research, but also to generate relevant higher education and increased cooperation with the industry.