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reports

UK Maritime Innovation Ecosystem

Maritime is a key sector for the UK economy, with it contributing £55 billion in turnover annually to the UK's economy, employing more than 225,000 people. It is a critical industry for the UK, and as an industry, is looking at the future of the wider ecosystem and the innovation that will drive it as the global maritime sector increasingly transitions towards greater automation and decarbonization.

November 30, 2023

This report is a high level overview of the maritime innovation ecosystem in the UK, to outline key areas of opportunity for future innovation. There is a need to showcase the growth potential of the maritime innovation sector within the UK and also internationally, as it’s a strong ecosystem but can be difficult to navigate but is in need of significant investment. This report seeks to act as a front door, to showcase some of the innovation taking place across the UK in the maritime sector.

There is a desire to look at how maritime innovation attracts investment, as it is a complex sector but there are significant opportunities. Part of the Connected Places Catapult Maritime Flagship Innovation programme identified three areas as key challenges currently facing the maritime industry:

1. Decarbonisation
2. Automation
3. Skills

In terms of the recommendations, the number one was to make a wider audience aware of the maritime innovation taking place in the UK, to help promote opportunities and new technologies that are being developed, and look to attract investment into the maritime innovation ecosystem, which is key for further development. Below is an outline of the key recommendations to do this:

Unlocking funding for the maritime innovation ecosystem, to promote access to finance and investment into the ecosystem
SME’s- access to funding and grants to foster innovation. To showcase the UK’s SME’s leading the charge in driving innovation in maritime
Decarbonisation of port operations and vessels. Support the adoption of clean technologies, through leveraging existing and initiatives like UK SHORE
Automation. Promote the adoption of automation to increase efficiencies and increase competitiveness
Skills. Support upskilling initiatives to promote the resilience of the maritime innovation sector and reduce the skills gap
International. Showcased the UK’s maritime innovation ecosystem to drive further opportunities for collaboration and partnerships

We want to look at practical ways of unlocking funding and if you would like to be part of these conversations going forward, please do read and share the report but do contact us here if you would like to take part in the conversation of how we can unlock funding.

If you are a maritime Innovation SME, please register here for our SME network.