Six SMEs in marine defence selected for funding
Within the LEVIATAD project, a call was launched last year for funding for SMEs with ambitions in naval defense. The selection process has resulted in the selection of 6 SMEs that excel in their pursuit of progress within LEVIATAD's identified investment priorities. These priorities include:
- development of autonomous ships and drones;
- communication and cybersecurity improvements;
- on-board equipment optimisation;
- predictive maintenance;
- weapon systems improvement; and
- decarbonisation of ships.
The selected SMEs will receive funding from the LEVIATAD programme to develop their innovative projects and establish cross-border partnerships with other participating organizations. This financial support not only provides an incentive for growth and development within maritime defense, but also lays the foundation for strong cooperation between companies from different countries with the aim of strengthening Europe's naval capabilities.
Do you want to know more about the companies that have been selected and what they intend to do? Read more below.
Selected projects
Footprint inc.
Who are they?
Footprint Inc. is a 3D printing company with a focus on sustainable and circular materials.
The company also provides advice on production methods, machinery and how to integrate and optimise additive manufacturing in a manufacturing company.
Footprint Inc. aims to limit the raw materials used to a minimum and, where necessary, to find a new use for the material, so that the production cycle is repeated as much as possible.
What are their ambitions?
Footprint Inc. will investigate the possibility of cooperation with the Belgian Navy in three key areas:
- Sustainability improvements by incorporating 3D printing technologies on naval vessels;
- Exploring the technical implications of 3D integration on ships; and
- Training the crew in operating 3D printers
The focus is on designing and creating 10 essential ship components to create a more streamlined supply chain.
Officers On Watch
Who are they?
Officers on Watch strives to be a beacon in the world of Maritime Domain Awareness and provides the following services within this context:
- Certification;
- Expertise in assessments, analyses and the creation of effective policies for maritime activities;
- Expertise in Vessel traffic service;
- Implementation of certified risk assessments; and
- Advanced solutions to optimize operations, specializing in radar, LiDAR, VHF, MF/HF, GMDSS, AIS, VDES, CCTV, AI integration and network and software architecture.
What are their ambitions?
Officers on Watch wants to develop a testing facility for navigation equipment technologies including radar, weapons communications and augmented vision systems. With this facility they want to facilitate access to better formatted and high-quality data streams for companies.
The facility is being set up in collaboration with Antwerp Maritime Academy. The aim is to act as an independent certification body where companies can test their equipment. Academic researchers will also be welcome at the testing facility, and knowledge sharing will be an important focus point.
Jimber
Who are they?
Jimber focuses on building cybersecurity solutions that cover the most common threats - without requiring expensive hardware or years of expertise. Based on their knowhow, they have designed a security solution that even the best hackers cannot break.
What are their ambitions?
Jimber will focus on further developing their unique security solution for naval defenses through the Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) tool. This tool is built on a zero-trust basis, where every access request is thoroughly authenticated, authorised and encrypted before being granted. This ensures that the Navy's most sensitive operations are shielded from potential internal and external threats.
e-BO
Who are they?
e-BO Enterprises develops smart platforms for content distribution and provides network management services, secure cloud computing solutions and network infrastructure. Their goal is to deliver all content to any device in a secure manner.
e-BO Enterprises therefore focuses on user-centered design to innovate in a society where information sharing has become an integral part of the way business is done and users are becoming more mobile every day.
e-BO Enterprises has a highly qualified engineering team and an experienced customer service department with fundamental knowledge of network design and architecture, advanced security, remote control, virtualization and data center automation.
What are their ambitions?
e-Bo will further develop and commercialise a hybrid, data fusion-driven surveillance solution for the maritime environment. They will explore the potential of data fusion-driven threat detection combining military sensors and sensor systems on offshore installations for the protection of critical offshore infrastructure.
Prophesea
Who are they?
Prophesea provides tailor-made predictive software solutions that make it possible to:
- Gain actionable insights into your business processes;
- Optimise your business by predicting the future;
- Take measurements more often and more accurately and
- Automate (smart) decision-making.
They deliver solutions tailored to your business needs and guide you from proof of concept to production.
What are their ambitions?
Cooling and heating systems on naval vessels are vital to maintain operational readiness, preserve equipment functionality, and prevent structural and material damage. Prophesea will research and develop predictive maintenance techniques to ensure the health and efficiency of cooling and heating systems on naval vessels.
To this end, they will create a digital twin of the cooling and heating systems using real-life observations and mathematical models. This approach enables an optimised operational lifespan.
MULTI.engineering
Who are they?
MULTI.engineering helps customers to be successful by offering flexible solutions for their engineering issues. Their customers carry out projects in 3 markets: Industry, Construction & Infrastructure as well as Maritime & Offshore. MULTI.engineering offers customers service, expertise and capacity within various services:
- They elaborate projects under their own management at their own design & engineering firms;
- They provide support at the customer's location through project sourcing; and
- They provide support through their Site Based Team, a combination of our design & engineering firm and project sourcing.
What are their ambitions?
MULTI.Engineering makes use of digital twin services to digitise fleet support and scale decarbonization efforts. These can then be used to validate and optimise construction and commissioning, to predict maintenance, to train crews and to demonstrate risks and controls in HAZID/HAZOP. MULTI.Engineering will further develop their digital twin services thanks to the support of LEVIATAD.
