NAVTOR got the news last week that it was nominated for the Norwegian Research Council's Innovation Award as one of three finalists. The final winner was announced on December 1st, and we congratulate the team behind "The Bergen 4-Day Treatment (B4DT)" as winners!
"The Research Council of Norway is a long-time valuable partner in many important projects for NAVTOR, encouraging research projects through grants and application programmes. The Research Council projects applicants are often Research and education institutions, but also private companies with the resources to produce their research. Other important partners in NAVTORs research are SINTEF, technical universities, and other educational institutions. Usually, they deliver simulations and theoretical content, and NAVTOR performs real-world testing and operation. It's a valuable joint effort to refine the result and deliver innovative products to end users faster." says Bjørn Åge Hjøllo, Chief Sustainability Officer of NAVTOR. Hjøllo is involved in all research and development projects at NAVTOR.
The Norwegian Coastal Administration is a valued partner in several research and development projects. A recent example is the "SESAME" project, whose goal was to develop an automated standard reporting procedure for vessels entering and exiting maritime reporting areas worldwide, also utilising Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to encrypt the reporting communication between the ship and the vessel traffic service (VTS) supporting cyber-security.
The Norwegian Research Council encourages technology companies like NAVTOR to apply for national and international projects and tax refund projects (Skattefunn). This enables a more efficient start-up phase than what self-financed projects could achieve.
As a result, we can bring innovation to the market much faster.
As NAVTOR grew, we began to engage in larger European research projects. We are currently involved in the EU-funded project, TRANSACT-Ecsel joint venture. NAVTOR's contribution focuses on critical maritime decision support with distributed AI-enhanced edge and cloud solutions, e.g. monitoring and decision support for safe and efficient navigation.
These projects generate inspiring possibilities for us. Synergies from working in a team with authorities, research institutions and industry partners in cross-industry projects push our innovation further.
Read more about The Research Council Innovation Award (forskningsradet.no)