70 per cent of the planet is covered by water, and 90 per cent of global
economic trade is transported by sea. The world's seas and oceans are
big business. Based on gross marine product, the ocean can be considered
the world's seventh-largest economy, with the total global value of the
Blue Economy predicted to rise to $3 trillion by 2030.
Grounded in detailed market research, and brought to life through over
250 meticulously researched case studies, Technology and the Blue
Economy presents a compelling overview of an inspiring and innovative
sector that includes offshore renewable energy, ports and harbours,
shipping, maritime surveillance, cyber security, aquaculture and ocean
conservation. It tackles questions like these:
- With Earth observation satellites providing unprecedented levels of
data about the ocean, can machine learning capabilities develop at pace
to make sense of all this new information?
- How can ships protect themselves when one shipping firm alone records
50,000 daily attempts to breach its cyber security systems?
- With floating wind farms now pushing further out to sea to convert
natural energy, what role do robots have in managing essential
maintenance in these more remote environments?
- When passenger ferries are already sailing themselves and self-docking
in port without human intervention, are we entering an age where human
error is eradicated?
- With fish farming predicted to account for 62 per cent of all the
seafood consumed globally by 2030, how can 3D imaging cameras and
net-cleaning robots help to stop mass deaths of fish that can run into
millions in a single incident?
- In the age of smartphone ubiquity, how important a role might social
media and citizen science play in ocean conservation?
- With luxury cruise ships now marketing themselves as 'smart, connected
cities', crunching passenger data in real-time, do they now provide the
gold standard of customer experience within the tourist industry?
- Is optical scanning technology the solution to countering slavery at
sea, a real concern in the south-east Asian fishing industry?
- Can satellite-enabled tracking and autonomous clean-up systems help to
counter one of the greatest conservation issues of the day - the fight
against ocean plastic pollution?
Technology and the Blue Economy explores how innovators can
develop the right business models to capitalize on growth opportunities,
and analyses the critical success factors for emerging technologies.
