A senior Gulf Craft official participating in a workshop in Dubai, UAE, highlighted that academia needs to meet up with industry professionals in order to prepare curriculums and conduct research studies which directly addressed the needs of the marine industry.

Gulf Craft, a leading global builder of luxury yachts and leisure boats, revealed that its executive management officer, Abeer Alshaali, recently took part as a panellist in the Dubai Maritime Innovation Quattro Helix Partnerships workshop.

The workshop was organised by the Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), said a company statement.

Held in support of Dubai Industry Strategy, in line with Dubai Plan 2021 to make Dubai a leading hub in the global economy, the workshop had multiple objectives. It reinforced coordination between government, academicians, private sector and research and development (R&D) institutions in Dubai to build a strong maritime sector to help diversify the economy, and meet the needs of the future, it said.

Alshaali spoke about Gulf Craft's unique position as the only UAE based global player in the superyacht industry. She shared the company's vast knowledge with like-minded professionals from the maritime sector.

She added: “What we are looking for from academia is revolutionary ideas through research and cooperation. They have the freedom and resources to help the maritime sector in resolving some of the immediate pressing issues.”

While other panellists were in agreement with her suggestion for cooperation between the industry and academia, they were also quick to highlight the fact that the veil of secrecy maintained in the maritime sector proved to be a roadblock to innovation, cooperation and development, it added.

After the panel meeting, the participants at the workshop were split into smaller groups with representatives from each of the four members of the Quattro Helix paradigm (government, academia, industry and innovation drivers) at each table to discuss the various issues and seek suggestions.

An interesting highlight of the evening was when the government announced a special challenge for the academia at the end of the event.

The academia members were asked to prepare responses for the innovation challenge from the UAE's maritime industry and present it during Emirates Maritime Week that will be held in October, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service