The MERIT project was officially inaugurated in November 2014 to promote the national marine cluster’ s commercial potential – and also the new ICT technologies that are being developed for use within the marine industries.
The MERIT project is funded by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy in Finland and coordinated by the industry and trade office of the City of Helsinki.
In the first two years, the MERIT project has already proved to be a force to be reckoned with. Now that various digital applications are gaining headway in the maritime industries, MERIT has brought together knowledgeable people working both in maritime and ICT fields, thus providing new possiblities for interaction and networking.
MERIT has been scheduled for termination at the end of the year 2016.
However, the markets for maritime ICT applications are on the increase. This will create new demand for technical innovations as well as for new cooperative projects. In these domains, the marine cluster has already established itself as a versatile operator.
CONSIDERABLE KNOW-HOW IN ENGINEERING AND ICT
To put ICT technologies and digitalisation to better use to benefit the maritime industries, quite a lot has been done up to now.
One example of the promising innovations is the’ Smart Port’ concept,
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Various digital applications are gaining headway in the maritime industries.
Mr. Juha Ottelin, Logistics Manager at Kotka Mills, hopes that digitalisation will simplify maritime logistics operations and make shipping more flexible. photo: STOCKSNAP. IO
34 seatec 1 / 2017