On 8 February, the MCC was established to work on the Maritime Connectivity Platform (MCP), an open source digital maritime domain which wants to bring common Internet standards to maritime navigation and transport systems.

Specifically, the MCP will enable infrastructures for efficient, secure, reliable, and seamless electronic data exchange among maritime stakeholders, both public and private, using available communication systems.

Importantly, MCP will be an open and vendor-neutral technology.

As such, the MCC will act as the coordinator for the provision of guidelines and standards. The MCC has adopted the open structure of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and interested parties are encouraged to join the initiative, bringing in their visions and competencies.

The initial consortium comprises OFFIS (Germany), KRISO (South Korea), RISE (Sweden), and the General Lighthouse Authorities of UK and Ireland. At the same time, the Danish Maritime Authority, the Swedish Maritime Administration, and South Korea's Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries have joined the MCC as Governmental Observers.

"The MCP could become an important framework for digitalisation of maritime sectors, for instance, e-navigation, SMART shipping & maritime logistics, Sea Traffic Management (STM) and MASS (Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship)," a press release from the MCC read.

Photo: EfficienSea2