MTU hosted the Smart Maritime and Offshore Wind Event in the NMCI

MTU hosted the Smart Maritime and Offshore Wind Event in the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) on the 11^th of November 2024. This event was highly successful, bringing together industry experts, innovators and enthusiasts from UL, MTU, Irish Naval Service, Enterprise Ireland, Irish Lights, IMDO, Shannon Foynes Port, Wind Energy Ireland, XOcean and Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

This event explored Ireland’s maritime sector and the challenges, opportunities and future directions across smart maritime technologies, cybersecurity, offshore renewables and digitization. The event’s success was driven by the energy and expertise of its speakers, who brought attention to both the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry, with a particular emphasis on collaboration. Ireland has a deep, historical, and multifaceted relationship with the sea. With Ireland’s marine territory extending to over 220 million acres, which is ten times the size of the island of Ireland, maritime trade has long had a significant impact to Ireland’s economic development, tourism and maritime industry. With a GVA of 2.85bn and over 30,000 people employed in the sector, the maritime sector not only plays a significant role to Ireland’s economy but plays a crucial role in Ireland’s trade and supply chain. 

Showcased were the opportunities that are in reach for the securing of the digital maritime infrastructure for on land and at sea. These topics sparked discussions among attendees that will foster the start of a cybersecure future for this sector. Ireland’s maritime sector has evolved not only including fishing and shipping but also renewable energy projects, including the development of Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE). The development of ORE including the establishment of an Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence (OWCE) is a key action outline by the Government of Ireland in Powering Prosperity Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy. The event consisted of four panels, Smart Maritime, Offshore Wind Opportunities and Security, Maritime and Offshore Winds Digitalization and National Emergency Planning of Critical Infrastructure.

 

Opening Sessions:

The event was opened by Maggie Cusack, President of Munster Technological University. She highlighted the role that MTU and National Maritime College of Ireland has in innovating and supporting the smart maritime and offshore wind sector. Her speech set the tone for the day, highlighting the importance of academic-industry collaboration. This was followed by an opening speech Dr Dr. Donna O'Shea (Chair of Cybersecurity, MTU Cork) who discussed the overall landscape of the maritime sector and the importance of collaboration in building resilience against cyber-attacks. Dr O’Shea also discussed how MTU, via Dr George O’Mahony, recently led the development of a smart maritime challenge in collaboration with Cyber Skills, Cyber Innovate, NMCI and the Irish Naval Service. The event featured a cyber attack simulation on a virtualised maritime port, hosted in MTU’s new Cyber Security Lab and conducted on its state-of-the-art cyber range infrastructure. The simulation, designed by Airbus, mirrored a real-world cyber attack, paralysing a port’s IT systems and a ship at its entrance, effectively blocking all traffic. Teams from the Irish Naval Service, National Maritime College, MTU, Cyber Innovate, and WorldSkills Ireland National Champions competed to identify the cyber attack's entry points, regain control of the vessel, and assist Europol in arresting the hacker group's leader.

 

Smart maritime:

The starting panel included, Dr George O’Mahony (MTU) was head of the panel, joined by experts, Brian Matthews (Irish Naval Service), Edel O’Connor (Marine Institute), Liam Curran (Enterprise Ireland) and Ronan Boyle (Irish Lights). They discussed technology trends, examining both opportunities and challenges and the role that smart technologies will play in advancing Ireland’s maritime sector.

 

Offshore wind opportunities and security:

This panel was led by Dr Paul Hegarty from the (NMCI) Panel Members included Jerry Hallissey (Shannon Foynes Port), John Watters (Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment), Dr. Sarah Kandrot (Wind Energy Ireland) and Commander Cathal Power -Officer in Charge of Fleet Operations Readiness and Training Standards (FORST). Discussed the importance of the Offshore Renewable Energy sector to Ireland regarding strategy, policy and skills.

 

Maritime and offshore winds digitalization:

Prof Tom Newe led this panel, he was joined in conversation by Prof Gerard Dooly (Centre for Robotics and Intelligent Systems, UL), Dr. Donna O'Shea (Chair of Cybersecurity, MTU Cork), Mike Brunicardi (Lieutenant Commander Irish Navy) and Anthony O’Toole (XOCEAN). Many opportunities and challenges can be said for the smart maritime sector and ORE sector as digitalisation has made a huge impact. Dr O’Shea also took to the stage to share her insights on the importance of collaboration in building resilience against cyber-attacks in this sector. This was again highlighted by Dr Paul Hegarty in the closing remarks. Key to unlocking this potential and accelerating the development of smart maritime and offshore wind, means enhancing engineering with technologies such as AV/VR, AI, Cloud, digital twins and unlocking the potential of data. However, as the rate of digitalisation in the sector increases, so too do the risks with the World Economic Forum defining cybersecurity as one of its “highest likelihood risks over the next ten years” along with climate action failure, digital power concentration and digital inequality. Cybersecurity is and will become the  linchpin in building the digital resilience necessary to future-proof our maritime and energy security.

 

National emergency planning of critical infrastructure:

The chair of this panel was Dr Cliodhna Sargent, joined by Dr Richard Brown (Director of the NCSC). Dr Browne spoke about the NCSCs role and the need for national emergency planning of critical infrastructure such as ports. Dr Browne also highlighted the knock-on effects a cyber-attack on a port infrastructure can have, including impacting roads, healthcare, energy, airports, etc.  The event was closed by Dr Paul Hegarty, Head of NMCI, who spoke about the opportunity for Ireland’s future, importance of collaboration and role of National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) and MTU will have in developing and securing Ireland’s Smart Maritime and ORE sector.

Overall, the day was an exciting opportunity to learn from the best in the field and connect with like-minded individuals. This event created a sense of community and shared commitment to advancing Ireland’s leadership in smart maritime and offshore wind development. To deliver this sea change in Ireland’s economic development, global competitiveness, and energy security, collaboration is essential. When you collaborate and bring diverse stakeholders together, special outcomes can emerge leading to greater innovation and understanding.