Innovation

Editorial – Philippe MISSOFFE

Managing Director, GICAN

Innovation stands at the crossroads of the challenges facing the naval and maritime industry. The acceleration of technological cycles and the digital revolution demand massive investment in innovation to remain competitive, attractive, and committed to the green energy transition.

To this end, and through its role within the Council for Maritime Industry Research (CORIMER), our sector is resolutely committed to funding maritime innovation, which is structured around four strategic pillars:

– Smart ships and autonomous systems

– Decarbonization and eco-friendly vessels

– New materials and smart shipyards/factories

– Next generation offshore factories

This ambitious roadmap embodies a shared vision by all stakeholders in the maritime sector and serves as a compass for priority maritime innovation activities. It also reflects a will to generate the technological breakthroughs essential to strengthening our competitiveness and making the naval industry an innovative and attractive sector in step with the energy and digital transitions.

Until now, the French naval industry has successfully reinvented itself to meet the demands of high-value-added markets. For example, the development of an industrial container ship with hybrid wing/synthetic fuel propulsion (MERVENT 2025) illustrates our capacity to produce unprecedented, state-of-the-art technologies.

Nevertheless, the challenge lies in industrialization: we must promote the production of these vessels in Europe rather than in Asia—which, by integrating European technologies into its shipyards, is closing its technological gap on complex vessels.

This technological development and its subsequent industrial deployment are crucial for our industry and must receive greater support from public authorities.

A public-private partnership for innovation funding contributes to our strategic autonomy, the global influence of French industry, and the maintenance of our competitiveness on the international stage.

We are convinced of the need to develop a favorable legal and regulatory framework, while also strengthening the “Maritime” component in strategic plans to guarantee our capacity for innovation and industrialization and to preserve our skills.