2015 was a transformative year for NCE Subsea, gaining GCE Subsea status. Now the world-class subsea cluster has a rock solid base to build on and grow out from.
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GCE Subsea overview. Image from GCE Subsea. |
GCE Subsea strengthens innovation and internationalization of the Norwegian Subsea cluster. Its main goal is to increase the cluster’s competitive and global market share, to take a leading position in sustainable utilization of ocean resources. The cluster is composed of more than 100 members and partners, with world-class companies and competence, and a notable strength in subsea life of field solutions.
Becoming GCE Subsea
On 1 January, after a decade as NCE Subsea, under the Norwegian Innovation Clusters program, the organization entered the Global Centres of Expertise (GCE) program, after being awarded the new status in June last year.
The GCE Subsea status recognizes NCE Subsea’s achievements, which include:
Process under the spotlight
Even more will be able to be achieved under the new GCE Subsea status. GCE status is the highest level in the Norwegian Innovation Clusters program. With it, GCE Subsea will see an increase in public funding from NOK5 million to NOK10 million per year, over 10 years.
“With this increased funding GCE Subsea will strengthen its financial and professional support to facilitate innovation projects. Moreover, we will increase our collaboration with other national and international clusters and continue to offer new competence to our members,” says Owe Hagesæther, CEO, GCE Subsea.
“With increased competition and cost efficiency in focus, the challenge for the cluster is to work smarter and collaborate better. We will increase our focus on work processes, targeting standardization, lean management and manufacturing, and life-cycle system engineering,” Hagesæther concludes.
Increased international focus
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From the GCE Subsea award ceremony in Oslo, 12 June 2015, from left; Monica Mæland - Minister of Trade and Industry, Jon O. Hellevang - Senior Subsea Innovator GCE Subsea, Owe Hagesæther - CEO GCE Subsea, Jan Tore Sanner - Minister of Local Government and Modernization. Photo by Terje Borud, Innovasjon Norge. |
The export of Norwegian subsea technology has grown considerably and with it GCE Subsea’s members international ambitions and engagement. Small and medium-sized enterprises often have limited resources and it is important to learn from each other, and customers, to succeed in new markets. Bigger companies are eager to get Norwegian sub-suppliers to join them internationally. The GCE-status gives us the resources to work closer with our members and help them join forces towards international markets.
More GCE Subsea member companies than ever are participating in the organization’s international activities. The GCE (NCE) Subsea breakfast seminar at last year’s OTC in Houston was one of the organization’s most visited events last year.
For this year’s OTC, GCE Subsea has strengthened the collaboration between other Norwegian clusters in order to help target international markets. As a result, 2016 will be the first year there will be one united Norwegian delegation at OTC. GCE Subsea will also attend Arctic Frontiers, OTC Asia and the Rio Oil & Gas Conference this year.
Subsea beyond oil and gas
It’s not all about oil and gas, however. GCE Subsea will increase cooperation with related ocean industries, to help its members expand into new subsea related markets. Norway has a strong marine and maritime industry, from aquaculture to fishing and ocean exploration, and a competitive advantage within ocean industries. Targeting this potential can give our members access to new national and international markets.
GCE Subsea has already supported companies expanding their businesses into other ocean industries.
“The subsea sector has a very large and strong sub-supplier industry. The timing is perfect to expand our solutions into other applications,” says Jon Oddvar Hellevang, Senior Subsea Innovator in GCE Subsea. “A key driver for innovation is mobility of personnel and competence. The seafood industry has the potential to use subsea expertise to develop new solutions that can enable sustainable growth.”
NCE Subsea was a huge success and through pro-active measures it succeeded in building a common arena for innovation and knowledge sharing within the cluster, creating a solid foundation on which to build throughout the next 10 years as GCE Subsea.
Fact 1
The Norwegian Innovation Clusters is a federally funded three level cluster program (Arena, NCE and GCE) that contributes to value creation through sustainable innovation. Each program lasts 10 years.
The program aims to trigger and enhance collaborative development activities in clusters. The goal is to increase the cluster dynamics and attractiveness, as well as individual company’s innovativeness and competitiveness. The program is organized by Innovation Norway, and supported by Siva (The Industrial Development Corporation of Norway) and the Norwegian Research Council.
Fact 2
GCE Subsea services and benefits
GCE Subsea strengthens innovation and knowledge collaboration in the subsea cluster. Increased innovation and internationalization is the main goal. All its activities and services will target six focus areas, where we aim to:
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