Launch of the COLUMBUS Good Practice Guide: "Maritime Sensor Technologies for the European Market: Research, Development and Implementation"
The Horizon 2020 COLUMBUS project, which ended in February 2018, worked to identify and transfer knowledge generated by EU-funded marine and maritime research to new users. In April 2018, COLUMBUS delivered a new guide that shares best practices, highlights bottlenecks, and provides recommendations for successful knowledge transfer in maritime sensor technologies.
Over the course of successive EU Framework Programmes, the European Commission has made a significant investment in research and innovation projects designed to advance ocean observing and monitoring capacities through the development of marine environmental sensing technologies. However, the Commission’s vision to deliver a suite of commercially-viable sensors that support key policy and management objectives has not yet been fully realised. Whilst some of the EU projects have been successful in commercialising products, demonstrating prototypes and transferring innovative software to industry; the development of promising technology stalled in others.
Following discussions at two COLUMBUS brokerage events*, the underlying cause for this was believed to be a disconnect between the ambitious goals set out by call texts and what is achievable within a 3 to 4-year project.
To resolve this short-falling, the COLUMBUS guide recommends that calls provide clearer expectations; projects are co-created with end-users; and, generated knowledge is shared openly. These findings are very much aligned with the recommendations to funding agencies that will soon be published by COLUMBUS.
The guide may be of interest to a wide audience but is particularly targeted at funding agencies that are responsible for commissioning marine technology research, and technology developers (private and academic) engaged in such research. Technology implementers and intermediaries may also be interested in some of the recommendations and findings.
The guide is available for download, here.
Image: Front cover of the Maritime Sensor Technologies for the European Market Good Practice Guide
*‘Knowledge Transfer in Maritime Sensing Technologies’ on 23 November 2017 (AtlantOS General Assembly 2017, Gran Canaria) and on 23 January 2018 (EuroGOOS Headquarters, Brussels).
