Full Speed Ahead: Innovate your way into the future of Shipping

 

 

The increasing global trade volume, the growing demand for efcient and reliable shipping services, decarbonization efforts and environmental regulations, cyber and other security threats, geopolitical tensions and unprecedented costs are redefning the landscape of the shipping and maritime industry. At times the ability of companies to leverage upon new and emerging technologies and innovate to navigate challenges and address evolving customer needs is critical.

With the 12th largest feet globally and the 4th largest feet in Europe, the Cyprus maritime and shipping ecosystem is well capable of taking the leap to effectively cope with the constantly changing world. The country stands as the largest third-party ship management hub in Europe, ranking among the top 3 worldwide.

As one of the key pillars of the country’s economy, the sector contributes 7% to the country’s GDP, employing over 9,000 individuals within the sector and an additional 55,000 seafarers aboard Cyprus-registered vessels. Over 20% of the world’s third-party management feet is currently managed by companies headquartered in Cyprus.

The local innovation system is also growing at a fast pace. The country boasts an increasing number of startups and scaleups as well as well-established companies with signifcant potential to innovate. At the RIF we have already made an investment of over €13.5 million in 30 research and innovation projects beneftting the shipping and maritime sector in the past five years.

They include a €2.5M investment for a strategic infrastructure for marine transportation, expected to stimulate synergies and provide the means for the development and uptake of maritime digitalization technologies that will improve the long-term sustainability of shipping and marine transport activities.

The infrastructure will be hosted at the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), one of the island’s seven Centres of Excellence, specializing in maritime engineering, marine robotics, maritime digitalisation, marine observation, marine and coastal ecosystems as well as underwater and seabed technologies.

Other projects fund collaborations between research organisations and industry partners as well as the development of innovative solutions for the shipping industry by startups and scaleups. One such project aims at developing solutions for sharing maritime data to minimise port congestion, while another envisions the creation of a foating power plant for maritime decarbonization. Startups and scaleups are developing tools for analysing the risks in dangerous goods transportation and also solutions to optimize maritime crew change processes and feet information sharing.

Maritime and shipping are a priority area in our national strategy for Research and Innovation. More investments will follow in the next period. These provide for a comprehensive approach to enhancing maritime operations through digitalization, earth observation, cybersecurity, and decarbonization. Support will focus on the de 
velopment of maritime informatics applications for ship optimization, cybersecurity applications for feet management as well as initiatives delivering decarbonization through the optimisation of energy sources amongst others. Investments will also be made for the development of prototypes of small zero-emission vessels, unmanned vessels, drone and robots for ships inspections and repairs as well as the use of advanced materials to improve vessel performance.

To boost innovation in these areas and support companies of the maritime and shipping sector in the transition towards a sustainable, blue and digital economy, RIF will deploy a range of funding tools. They will target both existing but also new stakeholders in the innovation system such as companies with limited to no previous involvement in R&D activities. Their path to innovation can start with vouchers of €10.000 – €30.000, allowing them to build their capacity for new product development and in-house innovation.

Contributing to efforts to enhance their work force in response to new technology and rising needs for upskilling staff, schemes such as Post Doc and PhD in Industry provide ample opportunities for companies to recruit PhD holders and PhD students respectively.

At the same time, they also have the option to encourage current staff to acquire new skills by undertaking a PhD or postdoctoral research in a feld aligned with their company’s activities, allowing them to become more prepared and agile in view of future challenges.

What’s more, investments ranging from €120.000 all the way up to €1.500.000 in start ups and innovative enterprises will continue.

Such funding schemes combined with the tax incentives offered by State, provide an ideal setting for companies in Cyprus to develop new, innovative products and services and scale up in global markets.

Over the last few years Cyprus has made great strides in bringing together research organizations and local enterprises. As we intensify our efforts to establish meaningful collaborations between industry and academia and move technologies out of the lab and turn them into solutions into the market, we, at the RIF, offer fund 
ing of up to €600.000 to co-develop solutions that address industrial challenges. And this empowers shipping companies on the island to leverage the know-how they have accumulated, tap into the knowledge of local research organizations and develop innovative solutions that will enable them to differentiate in an ever changing world.

Collaboration is also important beyond borders, particularly with countries such as Israel and Greece. For this reason, funding opportunities of €100.000 per project are provided through joint thematic calls, where shipping is identifed as one of the key areas where synergies will be sought. Through RIF’s participation in European
Partnerships, Cypriot companies also have the opportunity to join pan-European projects con  tributing to tackling world challenges and tran  sitioning towards a climate-neutral, sustainable blue economy on an EU level.

As our innovation capacity as a country grows, we also need to onboard the younger genera  tion, soon to be leading the industry. We need to ensure that they have the right mindset to take on the challenges coming their way. To this end, RIF announces an R&I internships scheme annually, providing students with opportunities to work for innovative companies over the summer period, thus allowing the leaders of tomorrow to get a frst glimpse of what the industry can offer them as a career option.

 

The opportunities offered by RIF are unleashing the innovation potential of the country one step at a time, allowing local companies to keep up with developments, embrace emerging technologies and become more competitive. They offer crucial support across multiple fronts and drive the sustainable growth of the national
shipping and maritime sector in response to the short time we have to adapt to a constantly changing world.

By Theodoros Loukaidis,
Director General, Cyprus Researc
and Innovation Foundation