Blue Cluster launches new roadmap on maritime security
A safe and secure North Sea is of crucial importance to the Belgian and broader European economy. Ports play a key role in the import and export of goods. Offshore wind turbines account for a significant share of our power supply. Thousands of kilometres of cables and pipelines lie on the seabed of the North Sea.
The current geopolitical tensions are one of the greatest challenges for the safety of our critical infrastructure at and near the sea. In order to better secure this maritime infrastructure, Blue Cluster also wants to stimulate cooperation and innovation in this area.
Based on a great deal of input from industry, government and knowledge institutions, Blue Cluster has decided to actively focus on better maritime security. We have bundled a number of priorities in a new roadmap. We would like to briefly introduce this roadmap to you below.
Pillars
Our new maritime security roadmap is built around three central pillars:
- Deter: discouraging access to our critical maritime infrastructure;
- Detect & identify: investigating suspicous patterns and anomalies and reducing false alarm rates within well-defined perimeters;
- Respond: minimising time between detection and response, and ensuring fast and adequate action in the event of intrusions.
Want to know more about our new roadmap? Check out the image below.
How may we help you?
With this new roadmap, we want to bring together various players in the field of maritime security and support them in setting up challenging innovation projects. The ultimate goal is to arrive at solutions and measures that enable us to protect the digital and physical infrastructure at sea and in our ports.
Do you have an idea for an innovative project that fits in with our roadmap on maritime security? Then you may be eligible for financial support via VLAIO. Our current call for projects is open until 27 March; the next call is planned for mid-August. Feel free to contact us for more info.
Are you looking for potential partners for your innovation project? We will gladly assist you in finding and selecting the right party. Send us an email and we will reach out to our vast network.
Link with policy
The Belgian federal government recognizes the importance of better protection of critical maritime infrastructure and has therefore included this item in the federal coalition agreement. The topic was also discussed extensively during the recent meeting of the federal parliamentary committee on National Defense.
