This year’s Nor-Shipping will see innovation in fields including maritime communications, cyber security, big data and more.
Prominent speakers at the Ocean Leadership conference come not just from the maritime sector but the wider worlds of politics, academia, big business and others, and include Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, IMO secretary general Kitack Lim, and Nobel Prize winner Paul Romer.
Nor-Shipping director Per Martin Tanggaard says “For high-level executives, the Ocean Leadership Conference is the first ever initiative of its kind.
“The mix of political, regulatory, academic and global business chiefs on a single stage will help inform, define, enable and motivate the leadership our world needs for sustainable and profitable activity in the ocean.”
A key theme of this year’s event is the Blue Economy, an ethos based around balancing exploitation of the ocean’s commercial potential with safeguarding natural environments and long-term environmental responsibility. The Blue Economy Hall, a 1,300 m2 space, is dedicated to this theme. Nor-Shipping head of sustainability and technology Silje Bareksten says “The Blue Economy Hall is all about starting a conversation, and enabling action, on how we can unlock value while safeguarding, or even improving, our ocean environment.”
Exhibitors in the Blue Economy Hall include companies active in areas including maritime communications, energy storage, weather data and more, as well as advocacy groups and players from a range of technical areas and public institutions.
There will also be a series of ‘Blue Talks,’ one-hour collaborative discussions on a range of topics related to the Blue Economy. These kick off on 4 June with a series of interviews following on from the Ocean Leadership Conference addressing key themes in the link between shipping and maritime technology with emerging ocean economies. The sessions include several of relevance to Maritime Digitalisation & Communications readers: ‘Trusting IoT’ sponsored by Inmarsat, ‘How we (accidentally) hacked a multi-billion-dollar oil platform and why shipping really should take cyber security more seriously’ by NTT Security, ‘Contopia – IoT use cases for a digital shipping company’ sponsored by Loginno, and ‘How can we create real vessel and ocean data value?’ sponsored by Meteogroup.
As well as the regular conference programme, there will also be technical seminars from a range of stakeholders including ship managers, equipment suppliers, research institutions and class societies. These includes sessions from Blueye Robotics on using underwater drones to perform hull inspections and underwater surveys, from Lloyd’s Register on cyber risk and resilience, and from Biarri Supply Chain on the optimal use of big data and analytics. Sessions also cover topics such as IoT connectivity, anomaly detection and data assessment in continuous monitoring systems, and vessel performance monitoring, among others.
The full conference programme is available on the Nor-Shipping website. Nor-Shipping also features an exhibition with around 1,000 exhibitors from nearly 50 countries, and an expected attendance of more than 30,000 visitors.
King Harald of Norway will appear in person at the Nor-Shipping Opening Ceremony at Oslo City Hall on 3 June, and his son and heir to the throne Crown Prince Haakon will be guest of honour at the Ocean Leadership Conference on 4 June.
Mr Tangardd adds “This is the place where the industry gains access to the future – meeting new people, experiencing breakthrough solutions and digital technologies, gaining fresh insights, and developing strategies that will help businesses evolve and prosper.”
“There are many events that showcase today’s successes, but Nor-Shipping is arguably the only one with such a committed focus to helping its customer base navigate the future.”
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