Making New Business Connections Fast

About 31 companies from the cluster met at GCE Subsea Møteforum and took part in close to 150 one-on-one meetings with other partners and members.

GCE Subsea Møteforum is an arena for the cluster to find each other and to explore partnering opportunities for businesses, startups, SME’s and R&D institutions in the cluster.

Speed-dating

In speed-dating lies speed networking and speed mentoring as well as sales pitches, and many participants discovered common interests and potential collaboration opportunities that they wish to pursue further.

Each company meet with about eight other companies from the cluster. Each meeting last for about 11 minutes, so, the pitch had to be specific with the aim to catch an interest and agree on a follow-up meeting which many succeeded in.

Innovation Collaboration

Aker BP presented their field of the future vision and their technology needs connected to this like expanded subsea facilities, subsea seperation and pump solutions, electric lifeboats and unmanned installations to mention a few. Håkon Skofteland, Project Manager Facilities Aker BP went on to express that some of these projects will be led by Aker BP while others will be delivered by their stategic partners and their suppliers.

It is a goal and priority for Aker BP to innovate through collaboration. – As an operator, it is useful for us to have a dialogue about new and exciting innovative solutions and good ideas that can expand our perspective and that we can take back and discuss further within our company, tip our strategic partners/alliances about or follow up directly. This is how we learn, develop, gain insight and coach eachother, says Skofteland.

The cluster was also introduced to how Aker Solutions have used Norwegian subsea technology from the core of subsea know-how and used it in other markets in this case in retrieving methan hydrate from the seabed in Japan.