WHY OSLO? - Oslo Maritime Nettverk

WHat’S Happening in OSLO?
Close links between companies and research institutions
Norwegian maritime firms are tightly connected
to research institutions. One reason for this is that almost
half of the Norwegian firms regard maritime research institutions
in Norway as among the best in the world. It is a goal for
the Norwegian government to increase innovation and R&D
efforts in Norwegian industry, and in 2002 the SkatteFUNN
program was introduced as a scheme for tax deduction of R&D
expenses in companies registered in Norway.
Focus on trainee programs The Norwegian Shipowner’s
Association has taken the lead in establishing this important
addition to Norway’s maritime training offerings. A two-year
program established in 2005, Maritime Trainee is now in its
third round, each involving approx. 20 companies including
ship owners, ship yards and maritime equipment companies,
oil rig companies, classification societies, law firms, banks
and ship brokers. Some notable participants are DNV, DnB
NOR, BW Gas, Leif Höegh, R.S. Platou, Wilh. Wilhelmsen, and
Kongsberg Maritime. The program seeks to give each trainee a
basic understanding of the industry, enabling them to master
numerous functions within the maritime industry at an early
stage of their careers. The program is first and foremost targeted
at students holding a masters degree in economics,
technology or law or graduates of the maritime college.
The future of shipping is knowledge With a recently
launched initiative to make Norway a global knowledge hub
in the maritime industry, the Oslo maritime cluster has taken
the initiative to secure a knowledge base for growth that
bodes well for the entire Norwegian cluster. Organisations
like Kongsberg Maritime, DNV, IM Skaugen, MARINTEK, Tschudi
Shipping, Wilh. Wilhelmsen and Leif Höegh have committed to
sponsoring professorships over a five-year period at various
universities around Norway, in fields of the donors’ choice.
Central to the concept is intensified R&D and knowledge
transfer generated in research and educational environments,
and then transmitted to the industry in the form of leadingedge
innovation and highly qualified employees. With 14 professorships
as of April 2009, the Knowledge Hub program is
the largest private investment in knowledge development in
Norway’s history.
Oslo Maritime Network (OMN) OMN is a public-private
initiative, founded in January 2007 with members from all segments
of the Oslo region cluster. Members contribute time
and resources to activities designed to promote sustainable
growth in the regional and national clusters, focusing on innovation
and financing, recruiting, information and marketing,
and knowledge development. As an example, the vision for
Norway as a global knowledge hub was spawned in OMN and
developed in cooperation with the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association.
On the innovation side, OMN arranges annual workshops that
gather experts from both maritime and onshore industries,
in order to encourage the exchange of technology and innovation
between these otherwise segregated environments.
The latest workshop, in November 2008, was titled “Maritime
fuels: cleaner energy, reduced consumption – plotting the
course.” As follow-up to the workshops, the most promising
companies are selected for participation in maritime springboard
events, in cooperation with Connect Norway. Springboards
assemble expert panels to advise companies on robust
business plans and fast tracks to markets.
OMN also contributes to regional participation in global
maritime events such as Nor-Shipping, as well as keeping the
public and politicians informed about activities and developments
in the regional cluster.
For more information, contact network secretary Kevin
Gallagher at kg@oslo.teknopol.no, or visit the website at
www.oslo.teknopol.no/maritime