Enhance competitiveness and facilitate business growth

We have identified four key pillars to base our activities on to achieve our goals.

Research and innovation projects

We are engaged in various research and innovation projects. In addition to conducting pre-studies for our member companies, we partner in several national and EU-funded projects.

Our core business is innovation, where our role is to act as a bridge between the industry and academia, facilitating their collaboration and partnership.

We conduct and finance studies in cooperation with and for our cluster companies. We participate in various national and European research and innovation projects, varying from small regional initiatives to large European collaborations. These participations aim to enhance the competence and competitiveness of our cluster companies.

Our dedicated EU advisor and business developers in ÅKP provide a unique set of skills to projects, along with state-of-the-art Business Process Management for workshops in our Blue Innovation Arena.

Competence activities

Our maritime industry is based on a culture of cooperation and knowledge sharing that has enabled the development of high-end international companies. Our competence activities are grounded in the maritime industry and are developed to meet a wide range of requirements within the cluster. To ensure that the activities are relevant for all employees belonging to different disciplines, we work towards enhancing maritime insight and collaborating closely with cluster companies and employees from various fields. This will ultimately contribute to accelerating the cluster's rate of innovation and competitiveness.

We categorize our core activities into three areas: market, technology, and knowledge transfer.

Through organizing and hosting webinars, seminars, and conferences on relevant topics, we emphasize both sharing experiences between cluster companies and bringing in leading external experts. We have established multiple forums where subject matter experts collaborate on innovative projects and ideas. These forums include the Forum for Industrial Hydrodynamics, IIOT Forum, and ESG Touchbase Forum, in addition to the Norwegian Cruise and Ferry Group.

In addition to our local programs, we also offer internationally renowned activities and programs in cooperation with IMD Business School in Lausanne, MIT in Boston, and CIFS in Copenhagen through ÅKP.

 In 2023, we organized more than 70 different competency activities, ranging from smaller forums and workshops to our our annual cluster conference in September.

Market and Export

We are part of Team Norway, which includes Innovation Norway as the primary funder of the national Norwegian cluster program. Team Norway's main objectives are to increase exports and promote Norwegian companies on the international stage.

Here we closely collaborate with national authorities and organizations on national and international exhibitions.

As a part of our cluster membership, we offer access to the GCE Blue Maritime Cluster World Order Book on a monthly basis. This book provides a comprehensive overview of ships that are on order globally, which helps to gain a better understanding of the market perspectives. We are constantly working to improve and update the order book to meet the requirements and needs of our cluster members.

Promotion and representation

We are a trusted point of contact for the maritime industry and work in partnership with various national and international consortiums. Our goal is to promote cluster companies and help them access new doors and markets that they may not be able to reach independently. Throughout the year, we host several official visits, both national and international, where we provide information about the cluster companies and arrange visits to their facilities.