Exploring future opportunities

Stakeholders from various regions and across the value chains within the ocean industries came together recently, with a shared goal: to fuel fresh ideas and foster partnerships for SFI Smart Ocean and SFI Offshore Mechatronics.

SFI Smart Ocean is on a mission to develop a wireless underwater sensor network, while SFI Offshore Mechatronics serves as a research hub for the next generation of advanced offshore mechatronic systems for autonomous operation and condition monitoring.

Both have their own challenges and need input from potential users, collaborators and stakeholders within the ocean industries.

Photo: Ingvar Henne director of SFI Smart Ocean.

Breathing life into innovative concepts

SFI Smart Ocean sought input on how to expand its activities and gain insights into the demand for sensors and communication solutions in the ocean while Offshore Mechatronics is nearing the conclusion of its work and wanted to spark new collaborations and applications based upon research areas that they have explored during their SFI period.

Throughout the workshops, industry leaders from Aanderaa, Bouvet, Odfjell Oceanwind, Adepth Minerals, Bremnes Seashore and Equinor, shared their perspectives and specific industry needs on measurement technology, offshore wind, marine minerals, aquaculture and CO2 storage.

Photo: Inger Graves from Aanderaa (Xylem) presented their Monitoring solutions for marine observations.

The workshops culminated in group discussions aimed at addressing the requirements of both SFIs and shaping new research directions for them and the ocean industries.

The workshop on Ocean Technologies in Bergen (at VilVite), was hosted by GCE Ocean Technology and SFI Smart Ocean. The workshop was also in collaboration with SFI Offshore Mechatronics, GCE Node and NORCE. A week earlier a similar workshop had been held in “Sørlandets Teknologipark” in Grimstad.

The Cluster's Role

– One of the primary roles of our cluster is to facilitate this type of interaction between the industry and research centres, says Bjarte Fagerås, Senior R&D Advisor at GCE Ocean Technology.

– Research centers often stand at the forefront of cutting-edge knowledge and technological breakthroughs, while industries bring the financial resources and real-world expertise required to transform these innovations into practical market solutions. When these two forces converge, ideas can be translated into market-ready solutions more rapidly and precisely to meet market demands, he explains.

We eagerly anticipate our continued collaboration in advancing ocean technologies and look forward to the exciting possibilities that will arise from these workshops.

A big thank you to all participants for their invaluable contributions.

If you have any suggestions or feedback for the SFIs, please don't hesitate to contact Bjarte Fagerås.