Europe has a major role to play in driving the maritime industry forward, said Tor Svensen, CEO of DNV GL – Maritime, in his keynote speech on innovation at the European Shipping Week in Brussels. Svensen outlined three priority areas that will drive shipping in the decades to come: Sustainability and environmentally friendly technologies, Big Data and connected ship solutions as well as a new safety mindset across the whole maritime industry in order to improve its safety track record.

A new publication on person centred care, co-produced by the BMJ and DNV GL, sets out the challenges we all face in the pursuit of quality care and the impact of combining systems thinking with person centred care.

Looking ahead to 2020 and beyond, both maritime and inland waterways will be under ever increasing pressure, as we use them for transport, recreation and commercially. At European Shipping week, Dr Pierre C. Sames, Chairman of the European Research Association and Director of Maritime Technology, Research and Development at classification society DNV GL, introduced a new initiative – Vessels for the Future – which aims to improve shipping’s safety record, sustainability and global competitiveness.

The 14th International Conference on Computer and IT Applications in the Maritime Industries (COMPIT) will take place from 11th to 13th May 2015 in Ulrichshusen, Germany. First held in the year 2000, COMPIT has established itself as a key conference in information technology (IT) for the mari-time industries, bringing together software developers and users.