Opening Address by Mr SS Teo Chairman of the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) at the SMI Seminar 2016

Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) Board Members,
Distinguished guests,
Friends, Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning,

1 Welcome to the annual Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) Seminar. I am delighted to see this gathering of government, industry experts, and academia today.

SMI Seminar 2016

2 The SMI Seminar, which is organised yearly since 2014, is part of SMI’s efforts to promote and drive maritime research and development (R&D), and to foster innovation within the maritime community during the Singapore Maritime Week (SMW) each year.

3 This year, the SMI Seminar 2016 is organised in conjunction the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s (MPA) Maritime Sustainability Forum and the MPA-SSA Maritime Cyber Security Seminar. This brings about a closer cluster of maritime research and technology platforms in alignment to SMW 2016’s focus on ‘People, Ideas, and Opportunities’.

4 In its third (3rd) edition this year, the SMI Seminar 2016 is themed “Smart Ships” to discuss and enable a future-ready Maritime Singapore. This follows as the maritime industry sets its vision and focus on future ship technologies to bring in a new era of shipping and sustainability.

5 We are pleased and honoured to have Mr Esben Poulsson, President of the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA), to deliver this morning’s keynote address on smart ships.

6 Other distinguished speakers include Mr Brijesh Tewari from Lloyd’s Register Asia and Mr Thong Sew Kait from APL, who will be sharing their perspectives of classification societies and ship-owners respectively.

7 Joining us from Finland are Mr Antti Saurama from the University of Turku and Mr Markus Laurinen from the Machine Technology Centre Turku. They will be discussing research opportunities of intelligent shipping along with Dr Peng Xiaoming from the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

8 There will also be a panel discussion moderated by Mr Heng Chiang Gnee, our Executive Director, for an exchange of insights and views on the benefits of smart ship technologies.

9 I look forward to a fruitful session later today and I thank all distinguished speakers and panellists in advance for your valuable time and contribution.

SMI Research Showcase April 2016

10 In conjunction with today’s event, the 2nd edition of the bi-annual SMI Research Showcase will also be open from 19 to 20 April. Besides raising the profile of maritime R&D, the Research Showcase will also recognise maritime research excellence through voting. I warmly invite all to visit and vote for your favourite research projects during the tea break later.

Building a Singapore Maritime Knowledge Hub

11 This month, SMI celebrates its 5th anniversary since its formation in April 2011. Over the past five (5) years, SMI had undertaken major steps to create a vibrant R&D ecosystem for the maritime and offshore sectors.

12 Chronicling our journey from 2011 to 2015, we have put together a commemorative publication on SMI’s contributions to Maritime Singapore’s R&D landscape. This publication reflects our journey towards the development of a World Class Maritime Knowledge Hub here in Singapore.

13 In 2013, SMI charted out two national-level R&D roadmaps for the maritime and offshore sectors to direct R&D within Singapore’s public research institutes.

14 Guided by the roadmaps, SMI initiated seven (7) R&D thematic programmes between 2011 and 2015, including a Joint Call for Proposals in Maritime Research between Norway and Singapore. This further supports the advancement of maritime research and innovation in Singapore.

15 SMI will be refreshing the SMI Maritime R&D Roadmap in 2016 to adapt to market developments and emerging technologies. With the updated roadmap, SMI will devise a strategic maritime R&D execution plan to build on the progress made since 2013.

16 Under our new maritime R&D plan, one of the major initiatives is the establishment of maritime research centres of excellence (CoEs). These will enable Singapore to build peaks of research expertise and manpower. These CoEs will also bring about a stronger industry-academia interface in focused areas.

17 As our industry is global and for R&D to succeed, SMI will continue to strengthen collaboration networks with local and international research organisations to tap on overseas research facilities and expertise. I believe Singapore can become a major centre for global collaborative research.

18 Greater publicity and campaigns will be in place to create more awareness and participation among the industry and also the young ones, especially students, through sharing of SMI’s R&D strategies, initiatives and outcomes. These will be conducted jointly with the Maritime Institutes @ Institutes of Higher Learning (MI@IHLs) through an annual schedule of events and activities.

Conclusion

19 SMI invites all stakeholders to join us to advance our vision to make Singapore a global maritime knowledge hub.

20 I am pleased to share this publication to commemorate SMI’s five (5) years of “Building a Singapore Maritime Knowledge Hub”.

21 Thank you for the support from the maritime community. Otherwise we could not have achieved what we did over the last five (5) years.

22 I wish all of you an enjoyable session ahead. Thank you.