The strategic research programme Information Processes and Technology (IPT) regularly prepares an ICT Outlook, where important trends in the ICT or trends that may affect the ICT related markets are highlighted. In the outlook recommendations for the business areas of DNV based on important changes in society, demography, organizations, and technology are presented.

The revolutionary adaptation of the IT (Information Technology) has had an enormous impact on personal life, business and society at large. The pace of this ‘IT revolution’ shows no signs of slowing down. In almost all industries the level of automation is still increasing, and ever more systems are becoming software intensive. Additionally, there is an ever-growing dependency on information systems for decision support, at both operational and managerial levels. This implies that information systems, information they contain, and software in industrial systems should be treated as critical assets. For instance, for the maritime and energy sectors this means that IT has a direct association with the safety and operational continuity of vessels and offshore structures. In other words, IT is no longer a nice-to-have ‘cherry on the cake’ but rather a must-have ingredient of the cake itself.

In 2009 the IPT composed the publication “Information Technology: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities in the Maritime and Energy Industries”, where an overview of important current and future IT trends, together with examples of industrial applications in the maritime and energy sectors are provided. The themes of the outlook are smart sensors, autonomous and intelligent systems, connectivity, architecture, integration and complexity, and human-machine interaction. To download the document, go to the Downloads menu on the right-hand side.