Email News October 2012
Welcome to the October 2012 edition of the Marine South East newsletter
If you would like to submit an article for consideration please email the text and a suitable image or logo to sarah@marinesoutheast.co.uk
Posted 2012-09-21 15:02:22
Marine South East wins new resource efficiency European Project
Increasing Europe’s innovation capacity in maritime resource efficiency is the aim of a new European project that MSE will be working on from October 2012.
The global maritime market is on a strong growth trajectory, and this new European project aims to harness that growth to create economic and employment benefits for Europe.
On the one hand, growth is driven by commercial megatrends such as demand for marine/offshore renewable energy, fish products and emerging potential for ‘blue biotech’ products; on the other hand, there is high demand for efficient use and management of the ocean resource, as described in the EU Integrated Maritime Strategy.
Increasing Europe’s innovation capacity in maritime resource efficiency will underpin successful exploitation of these growth opportunities.
Traditionally, the maritime industries have been slow to explore how demands for resource efficiency would impact on them. Fish stock depletion and rising fuel costs have, of course, risen quickly up the political and commercial agendas, and shipping companies as well as builders and engine manufacturers have invested in improving fuel efficiency. However, the wider needs for maritime resource efficiency are posing challenges which in many cases lack viable solutions.
Emerging marine activities (for example in exploiting marine
renewable energy) are presenting new opportunities for innovation, but are also highlighting areas where further
improvements in resource efficiency need to be achieved.
European member states contain a number of Regional Research Driven Clusters (RRDCs) which are active in
the fields of maritime development and marine & coastal resource management.
This project aims to add significant value to this existing cluster infrastructure, via three main approaches that will
support their long-term development and sustainability:
* Facilitating interaction and knowledge exchange between RRDCs each focused on its world-class strengths (Smart Specialisation)
* Raising the effectiveness of RRDCs by strengthening shared approaches to innovation support
* Using RRDC activities to stimulate involvement of supply chain companies
More information about the project and the partners will be given in future updates via the Marine South East newsletter.
Posted 2012-09-21 15:11:26
Plans to invest over £25m to create 1,200 jobs in the Solent
It's estimated that almost 1,200 jobs will be created in South Hampshire when plans to invest more than £25m in The Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus are finalised.
It is anticipated that more than £15m will be used to unlock 21.6 acres of land for the development of new commercial space and up to 90 new homes. The proposed investment would also support the development of 25,000 sq ft of new advanced manufacturing business space beside the airfield.
It is estimated that the investment would create around 220 construction jobs and nearly 680 jobs when work is complete.
The proposed investment is expected to come from a number of bodies, including £8m from the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership's Growing Places Fund, £4.1m from Hampshire County Council and £1.5m from the Government's Regional Growth Fund.
To find out more and track the latest progress on the Solent Enterprise Zone visit:
http://www.solentez.co.uk
Posted 2012-09-28 16:24:33
Raising awareness for proposed marine competition in vessel efficiency
Marine South East is working with the Transport KTN to raise awareness of a potential competition in vessel efficiency expected to launch in January 2013.
This competition will be the first of its kind in the marine industry and to ensure that the marine and maritime community is well-prepared for it, we are working with the Transport KTN to raise awareness of the compeition.
It is also expected that there will be a nationwide consortia-building event in late November.
This will be the first time that a collaborative R&D competition of this type has been initiated for the marine industry in the UK. It draws heavily on the recently developed marine industries roadmap, and Marine Growth Strategy review, both of which the Transport KTN supported throughout 2011 and 2012.
This competition is a significant opportunity for the marine industry and it is vital that the industry responds to it with high quality submissions - strong engagement now will provide intelligence on how capability can be strengthened within the UK, enabling further growth in international markets.
We will publish more details about the competition as soon as they are known.
Posted 2012-09-27 10:03:32
£13 million funding to help UK SMEs export
£13 million of funding has been awarded by the Government to help 10,000 more British firms export. The funds will go to UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to help more companies make contacts and sell to overseas markets.
The majority of the investment - up to £9 million - will go directly towards boosting trade opportunities for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).
This additional funding for SMEs means:
* There will be more money available for SMEs to attend trade shows abroad through expanding the Tradeshow Access Programme
* Substantial discounts will be offered on the Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS), which provides targeted market research to help businesses find those crucial first contacts overseas and to help them develop relationships in new, fast-growing markets
* There will be increased support available for travel on overseas trade missions.
In addition, £2.5 million will be invested in helping firms access and win some of the many high-value opportunities that UKTI has identified globally.
A further £1.5 million will be used for projects including support for UKTI's work attracting vital inward investment into our economy.
This announcement comes as UKTI prepares to host 'Export Week' from 12-16 November, when there will be over one hundred events up and down the UK designed to reach out to SMEs. There will also be five 'Explore Export' events where UKTI experts from 70 overseas markets will be on hand to provide bespoke advice about trading both with our traditional partners and with high-growth markets.
Export Week 2012 will involve over 100 events around the UK from 12-16 November. UKTI would like to invite businesses to register and take part. Further details can be accessed here: http://www.exportweek.ukti.gov.uk
Posted 2012-09-28 13:47:42
Launch of the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund
DECC recently launched the 1st phase of the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund scheme which is a competitive funding scheme to support the development and demonstration of innovative, new technologies, products and processes in the areas of energy efficiency and building technologies and power generation and storage.
The scheme seeks the best ideas, irrespective of source, in these areas from the public and private sector. However, the scheme particularly aims to assist small and medium sized enterprises, including start-ups, and those companies that are selected can receive additional funding for incubation support.
This initial call is the first phase of the Entrepreneurs Fund. The second phase of the scheme building on the first phase is expected to be launched in early 2013 on an open call basis.
The first phase of the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund has up to £16m available for funding and during the application process applicants will be expected to demonstrate a robust evidence based case for funding that will include but not be limited to:
* the potential impact of the innovation on 2020 and/or 2050 low carbon targets or security of supply
* the size and nature of the business opportunity
* the technical viability of their innovation and coherent development plan that will commercially progress the innovation
* value for money proposition
The 1st phase of the scheme will close on 31 Oct 2012. During this period there will be two assessment deadlines.
For more information please go to:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/funding/funding_ops/innovation/innov_fund/eefs/eefs.aspx
Posted 2012-09-26 21:51:11
Data analysis: linking terrestrial and ocean data sets Thursday 11th October 2012, Brest, France
An interactive workshop to identify innovation opportunities exploiting leading-edge marine science and technology. 11th October 2012, Brest, France. Pole Mer Bretagne and its international partners are holding this event within Sea tech Week 2012, to highlight state‐of‐the‐art technologies and roadmap the next breakthroughs in data managing in coastal areas.
Coastal areas host substantial economic and recreational activities. These activities, along with climate change, present potential pressures and risks, such as point source, diffuse pollution from catchments, sea-level rise, aquifer submersion, coastline erosion or oil spills. Despite extensive monitoring data of all kinds, linking properly together the watersheds, rivers, estuaries
and coastal seas is still an issue.
This workshop is an opportunity for experts (from scientific, engineering and commercial perspectives) to:
* Explore the deficiencies of current state-of-the-art,
* Consider the potential for advances in know-how and technology,
* Identify challenges to improve data management in the land sea continuum.
The target audiences invited are experts (scientists, engineers and decision-makers from private and public institutions) designing or using models coupling land-ocean and facing data management issues (in terms of data analysis and processing). The organisers aim to achieve a mix of participants with representation from different countries.
Registration
An online registration system to this free event will be open very soon. However, if you already wish to pre-register please send an email to mailto:philippe.monbet@pole-mer-bretagne.com stating your name, organisation, contact details and field of interest.
Posted 2012-09-26 21:40:42
Official Opening of ECDIS Ltd DNV Class A Full Mission Bridge Simulator, 26th October 2012, Fareham
ECDIS Ltd is proud to announce the launch of its DNV Class ‘A’ Full Mission Bridge Simulator on Friday 26th October 2012 at 1000 am.
The opening of the Simulator marks a significant milestone and will increase our training portfolio significantly from 2013 onwards. We will be utilising the Simulator primarily for delivery of BRM, BTM and BPC courses. However, any spare capacity will be offered to research establishments and to shipping companies for their own requirements, with our own experienced mariners available should they be required.
For more information please contact Richard Sloly Sloly@ECDIS.org
Posted 2012-09-26 22:00:21
Environmental issues for small and medium ports 4th December 2012, France
The European Interreg IVC project SuPorts (Sustainable Ports) is holding a final project conference on 4 December 2012 in Rouen, France.
The project partners are from France, Spain, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Italy, Lithuania and Greece.
The Rouen event follows two previous successful conferences in Spain and Greece, and on this occasion will present the final outcomes of the work done over the last three years.
The main themes of the project work will be reflected in the presentations and workshops at Rouen and are:
* Dredging and sedimentation issues
* Biodiversity issues in port environments
* Stakeholder management with respect to environmental matters
* Environmental management systems.
This will be a practical day involving both presentations and workshops, and is open to all who have an interest in port and environmental matters.
There is no cost to attend and a lunch will be provided.
The conference languages will be English and French, with simultaneous interpretation.
Both morning and afternoon sessions will include time for questions and networking.
As an optional extra day, on 5 December there will be a visit to local French ports.
Should you require further information please contact Howard Holt at howard@marinesoutheast.co.uk
