Italo-France research, development and innovation roadmap

October 26, 2018 - During the “Euronaval” international exhibition, and the day after the Franco-Italian cooperation announcement in naval industry, the Italian and French shipbuilding industry associations, ASSONAVE and GICAN, signed a common Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap for Shipbuilding and ship supply. This document carries out the task entrusted to our two associations during the Lyon Summit of September 27th 2017 between the Head of State of France and the Prime Minister of Italy and singles out the key technologies that the shipbuilding industry should develop in the next 10 years and more in order to remain a step ahead the Asian competition. The “European Maritime Technology” industry is presently world leader in building high end ships equipped with sophisticated maritime equipment both for civil and naval purposes, thanks to continuous investments in RDI.

The European Maritime Technology sector includes more than 300 shipyards and 22,000 equipment suppliers, and employ more than 900,000 skilled people, with an annual production value of € 112.5 billion. A consistent part of the above numbers are generated in France and Italy (Sea Europe Data). The size of our industry together with the need to guarantee the long term defence and security of the maritime domain, depends on our present edge in maritime construction. Shipbuilding is strategic sector not only for Italy and France, but also for Europe. Our leadership is currently under attack by the Asian key shipbuilding countries and requires high investments in RDI to be safeguarded in the near future, as well as strong governmental support to these investments.

 This is the reason why the two Associations defined 5 key areas, called “visions”, where major Investments should be concentrated: Green Ships (efficient and sustainable solutions for environment low-impact ships), Smart Ships (introduction of technologies efficiently enhancing on board services, safety and security), Autonomous Vessels (a pathway toward a full autonomous ship), Smart Offshore infrastructures (solutions enabling the Blue Economy development), Smart Yards (solutions enhancing productivity, quality, efficiency and safety in the full ship production process). For each “vision”, “enabling technologies” and “technical goals” for 2030 and for 2050, have been defined.

 This roadmap is fully in line with the European agenda, in particular the ongoing work for FP9 and for the European Defence Fund (EDIDP for development and EDRP for research). In this framework, this common roadmap opens new dual opportunities of civilian and military cooperation for French and Italian companies, also in synergy with the parallel agreements between Fincantieri and Naval Group. ASSONAVE and GICAN will now propose their RDI Roadmap to the other Maritime European Associations in order to arrive to a shared ambitious European RDI Plan able to develop the European Industry.