Ocean Connector: The future of international autonomous system innovation

Join us at COVE for a one-of-a-kind event that brings together experts, innovators, and thought leaders in the marine technology sector. This in-person gathering will dive deep into the future of regulatory review and how it intersects with the exciting advancements in autonomous system innovation.

Autonomous systems will be necessary for the ongoing maintenance of offshore industries such as wind farms as they mitigate risk to humans from the somewhat exciting but dangerous environment offshore. Autonomous systems have the potential to improve the availability of information from offshore assets significantly, but they need to be trusted to do the job safely. This means showing that they are safe and reliable. Otherwise, there is more downside than upside to their use.

The regulatory space is focused on safety, and the still developing technologies must inform this. If regulation is pre-emptive, then it may stifle innovation. The sea surface domain is regulated mainly under international agreements focused on the International Maritime Organisation, with national bodies then drafting their interpretations as needed.

Nick Tudor, CEO at D-RisQ Ltd., leads this presentation on the current status of autonomous systems and a potential way ahead for international certification.

About Nick: Following a full career as a Royal Air Force Officer Engineer, Nick has been working in software and high integrity systems for the past two decades. As Co-Founder of D-RisQ, he has worked in multiple sectors including aerospace, defence, automotive, rail, autonomous systems in air, land, sea, nuclear decommissioning and cyber-security. D-RisQ was also one of the companies that participated in COVE’s Ocean Scale-Up Accelerator Program in partnership with Innovate UK. Furthermore, Nick is one of only three UK nationals on the invite only panel that develops advice for DO-178C, the de-facto software standard for aerospace, and conducts audit and training in DO-178C on behalf of various clients. He also participates in several standards bodies and is the Design Authority Chair for a Scottish autonomous systems project which is setting benchmarks for the design, development and use of standardized autonomous systems in the offshore sector.