Maritime & Ports Innovation Network

Following the success of the Decarbonising Ports & Harbours Innovation Network held from 2020 to 2022, we have decided to extend the programme for an additional year. We recognise that since the inception of our original programme in 2019, a lot has happened, we left the EU, we entered a pandemic and a financial crisis (not just because we left the EU) and we reaffirmed our commitment to decarbonising our industries including maritime.

Ports remain central to work we aim to achieve over the next year however, it was decided to expand the remit of the Innovation Network to include the wider maritime sector but with the same focus on decarbonisation and building back greener.

In the maritime sector, decarbonising remains the largest innovation challenge we face, but other imposing challenges face the sector.  These include the move towards automation, and digitisation, and striving to improve productivity and safety.

Through a range of activities such as engagement events, Innovation Exchange challenge launches, case studies and more, the Maritime & Ports Innovation Network will explore with the community the cross-sectorial challenges and opportunities as well as showcase findings to help the sector’s stakeholders to succeed in their transition to a more productive, safer and cleaner way of working.

The network has also launched the Maritime Innovation Sound Waves Podcast – a series dedicated to discussing technologies and solutions developed and used in the Ports and Maritime sectors to meet the UK’s Net Zero targets.

We are extending our existing substantive community and would welcome new members from the smaller or mid sized Port owners / operators; those in the fishing or leisure sectors; academic and research bodies; and of course technology developers particularly in decarbonising, digitising and automating.

We will be engaging with UKSHORE and are keen to support their engagement with the maritime sector on their planned consultations over the next year.

We are planning a series of ‘Engage with Innovate UK KTN’ type podcasts to help introduce latest thinking and activity on a range of technologies which have great potential to be game changers in the industry. Through our extensive range of networks we will explore with industry experts subjects such as 5G, battery storage, hydrogen and alternate fuels and other subjects of interest.

We will be looking to develop a series of case studies from the UK and internationally where cutting edge approaches to a variety of our core interest challenges are being developed.

We will be exploring in depth approaches to addressing opportunities in subjects such as green shipping corridors, greening inland shipping, developing energy systems and preparing for autonomy.

We are starting by finalising our Solutions Report work from the Decarbonising Ports & Harbours Innovation Network (available soon), where a flurry of activity in the final quarter meant a range of updates needed to be incorporated.

We want to explore means to present the wide range of cutting edge technology solutions being developed in the UK to showcase British ingenuity and how the UK is taking a leading role in transitioning towards a cleaner, safer and more productive maritime sector.

Subscribe to the Maritime & Ports Innovation Network mailing list for updates and latest activities.

In response to the UK’s commitment to achieve NetZero by 2050, we have also developed a landscape map of the UK port owners, operators, technology providers, industry stakeholders as well as solution providers. Explore and join the interactive landscape map.

In summer 2022, representatives from Innovate UK KTN’s Maritime & Ports Innovation Network met with key organisations at the heart of Singapore’s maritime innovation ecosystem. Read the case study from our visit here.