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detailing the operational and research activities of the Irish Marine Institute and provide further information on the range of expertise and activities in Ireland’s SmartOcean network. I hope to act as a key liaison for OTE participants who may be interested to engage with the Irish and European Partners to explore the opportunity to develop new projects in this space. Industry, academia and government all play distinct, important roles in advancing subsea technology: What do you think are the key point to get these groups working in unison towards a common end? Fogarty I consider myself extremely privileged to work at the interface of an exciting and multidisciplinary area of technology development. More than ever before there is a shared understanding of the role each of the various players has in the realization of technology cluster initiatives and the need to work with a range of stakeholders to articulate and achieve a common development goal. Ireland has a strategic advantage in the formation of research clusters due to our small geographical area which facilitates valuable networking and collaborative opportunities for indus- try, researchers and government (by comparison, our terrestrial area repre- sents a mere 10% of our 220 million acre marine resource). Ireland also has many of the players from across the value chain of global ICT and marine and related sectors including Offshore Energy, Environmental Monitoring and Shipping Security. This allows us to identify end user requirements and associated research and development opportunities and to engage a range of expertise from the development of sensor hardware through to software solutions required. We also have a range of specialist government organisations including the Marine Institute, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, the EPA, the Naval Service, National Utility Companies and oth- ers engaged in the provision of opera- tional services and cutting edge research activities who are also willing to support to industrial and academ- ic researchers developing new tech- nologies through the provision of access to specialist expertise and infrastructure. A significant propor- tion of this activity has been support- ed by national industrial develop- ment and research funding agencies and builds on a legacy of strategic national investment in marine science and ICT over the last number of years. From an economic and envi- ronmental perspective government also has a crucial role to play in the development of marine enterprise through the establishment of a sup- portive policy framework that enables sustainable economic development of marine enterprise while ensuring pro- tection of the natural marine resource. What technologies do you see com- ing along today or the next few years that will have a “game changing” effect on the way we conduct our subsea business? Fogarty From a technology point of view there are still significant chal- lenges for the development of cost appropriate reliable autonomous sen- sor and data management networks that can survive extended deploy- ment and present an accurate picture of the challenging and dynamic con- ditions presented by the marine envi- ronment. “Fogarty” Continued on page 46
