3 minute read
Guest column
Since a year I may call myself figurehead or chair of the Top Sector Water & Maritime. A fantastic honorary job in which I like to convert innovative ideas into practical solutions.
Photo by Roelof Jonker
The Dutch water sector as a whole faces a huge number of challenges, not much different from other sectors such as construction, healthcare, education, and the entire industry. We are going through a transition that requires an enormous amount of brainpower and adaptability. Together with the other Top Sectors, among others, we are working hard to ensure that the Dutch innovative power can thrive. During various meetings I regularly hear the synonym 'the perfect storm', when we try to name the current post-industrial era. But as Winston Churchill noted, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” It takes hard work and clever thinking, but together we can certainly make a difference.
Sea of possibilities
Water has a connecting factor. And I often play that card to clearly position our sector. There is no sector in the Netherlands that works without water solutions, is physically protected by dykes or can do without shipping because of all freight transport by sea or that doesn’t use sustainable energy from the North Sea. Moreover, due to strong urbanization, growth of the world population and climate change, the global water problem is constantly growing. Although the water is almost up to our necks, I prefer to see this as a sea of possibilities. As Dutch people, we are strong in finding innovative and sustainable solutions for issues in the subsectors of Water, Delta and Maritime technology. We have an inseparable connection with water. The world knows this and that gives us a head start to build our strong trading position.
Building with nature
Meetings are not the most pleasant part of this job. I rather prefer to speak to the entrepreneur with a great product or a scientist about a new discovery. Just look at the clever solutions around the EcoShape consortium. How do you make nature work for our delta? EcoShape develops and shares knowledge about Building with Nature. This is a new approach to hydraulic engineering in which the forces of nature are used for the benefit of the environment, economy and society. A well-known example of this method is the sand motor off the coast of South Holland. Since 2010, an enormous amount of research has been done there and many PhD students have been able to prove their theories. Our coast is protected and nature is steadily taking its course. Moreover, this technology is scalable to other countries.
Open source data
Another good example of which the offshore market can also be a part is Digishape. DigiShape is an open innovation platform of companies, knowledge institutions and governments that want to use the potential of digitization for the water sector together. They work together in active cases, in which they experiment as an open community with available data, new data and advanced techniques. In this way the participants arrive at innovations in current water tasks more quickly. You can think of data about drilling through soil layers, exchanging data about accidents and near-accidents at sea and currents around harbor mouths.
Modular future-proof climate neutral energy technology
In the next thirty years we will see major changes in energy storage and use. A major challenge in global shipping for which we as the Dutch maritime industry can make a difference. However, no real choice has yet been made about the energy carrier. Will ships sail on hydrogen, solar energy, methanol or a combination in a few years' time? In order to make the ships future proof, we have developed a modular future proof climate neutral energy technology that can be used for any energy carrier. So whether the ship is going to run on LNG, ammonia or air, the engine room is ready for the future.
In short: it takes hard work and clever thinking, but together we can certainly make a difference.
Thecla Bodewes
Figurehead Top Sector Water & Maritime CEO Thecla Bodewes Shipyards
