As part of the recently signed MoU collaboration activities, ZEBRA Consultants together with UCLan Cyprus were invited to participate and deliver a presentation speech at the Nautical Institute’s event entitled “Tomorrow’s Seafarer STCW suitability and future competence challenges”.

The Nautical Institute (Cyprus Branch) was established in 1993 after it was recognised that the Cyprus Ship management industry supported a significant number of members living and working on the island. The aim of the Branch is to promote a variety of activities and increase the membership of The Nautical Institute on the island of Cyprus and it is run and managed by a small group of dedicated Institute member volunteers who form the local Committee.

The event took place on the 10^th of November 2021 and focussed on the discussion of challenges for the seagoing personnel related with the new technologies and the opportunities. Part of the panellists were experts from the EU project SkillSea. On behalf of ZEBRA Consultants, the speaker was Dr Louis Nisiotis.

Dr Nisiotis spoke about the Digital transformation of the Maritime Industry and the ongoing efforts of implementation of digital technologies into the daily practice of the industry, as well as for the significant and ongoing increase of automation. Dr Nisiotis focussed on the use of Augmented, Virtual and Mixed reality technologies to support the needs of the industry, and how these technologies can be used to support education and training of the future seafarers.

ZEBRA Consultants and UCLan Cyprus aim at leveraging immersive XR technologies in a plethora of industrial applications, one of them being the maritime sector.