They say that transformation happens when potential is integrated, and as the subsea industry changes faster than ever before, that harmonisation across the entire ecosystem has never been more important.
From energy, offshore renewables and telecommunications, to defence, and other critical marine assets information and tasks that once sat in silos need to be more and better connected than ever before: horizontal solutions, therefore, are the way forward in unlocking the industry’s next chapter.
Whilst they may build on valuable experience gained in the oil and gas sphere, these ways forward must be flexible enough to be applicable across sectors, each of which face their own operational constraints and headwinds. There are major shared challenges too, such as handling volumes of data, stakeholder communication, integrating technologies, and working together to create meaningful, mutually beneficial paths forward will undoubtedly achieve the best possible outcomes.
The use of multi-sector platforms in shaping the future of subsea operations needs a refreshed way of working built on trust, collaboration, and integration – but this isn’t a future aspiration, it’s a current reality.
Embracing these principles and successfully navigating their complexities is already underway where organisations embrace ecosystem thinking and it sits right at the epicentre of the Elementz “blue digital ecosystem.” It’s here, it’s now and it’s being built by those working hard to avoid fragmentation. Taking tools, technology and methodology that have been successful tried and tested in the global oil and gas sector and adapting them for the likes of offshore wind cable inspection, subsea telecommunications monitoring, and critical infrastructure protection is creating a future-looking environment that facilitates transformation.
Close cooperation between operators, asset owners, inspection providers, and technology partners is the best method of protecting subsea assets and their efforts need to be supported by platforms that are open yet secure, carefully governed, and compliant. The idea that working together can yield the results needed for all concerned gave birth to Elementz’s operator-led advisory board, Compass, which brings together leading energy operators and asset owners to identify shared challenges and accelerate digital evolution whilst de-risking adoption and creating an operationally realistic roadmap.
Backed by Compass and building on its foundation, the Tide Breaker programme has been developed in tandem with global energy operators to spur real-world subsea innovation and champion the power of collaboration. The Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI, is supporting Tide Breaker by advising on programme design, participant selection and helping to ensure robust, well-governed delivery. With ONE Digital Tech also supporting, Tide Breaker will benefit from connections into the region’s wider entrepreneurial ecosystem and help ensure the programme drives impact at scale.
Following a rigorous selection process, two North east businesses were recently selected to enter the programme and embark on development and testing, followed by evaluation, commercial integration and the dataset access that will allow their solutions to be refined to better suit industry requirements.
One of the successful applicants in the first cohort is Fathom who will develop a physics-based AI empowered, structural analysis digital twin for offshore assets that turns data into qualified life, performance and risk thus providing a cost-saving, standards-aligned, engineering-grade subsea digital twin. Fusing multiple streams, Fathom will be providing fast, auditable results that enable complete assessment that is both portfolio-ready and scalable.
The other successful applicant is Voltquant, which will deploy its digital engineer platform to standardise and speed up compliance checks across engineering projects. The system automatically reviews drawings, datasheets, and reports against internal standards, returning traceable findings that help teams detect issues earlier, reduce rework, and maintain a strong audit trail. It supports human approval workflows, so decisions remain accountable and consistent. Voltquant will also deploy its AI Risk Intelligence platform for subsea integrity management, turning inspection results into structured, evidence linked insights that improve barrier health visibility, enable consistent risk ranking, and drive faster action planning. The result is faster movement from inspection outputs to evidence linked decisions and risk reducing interventions.
The exceptional calibre of the first cohort reinforces why Tide Breaker was set up, and the need to accelerate their exposure to major operators, remove opaqueness and get solutions into the hands of users.
By supporting up-and-coming companies and products at an early stage, and fostering their ambition and ingenuity, Elementz has underlined its commitment to using the power of collaboration, trust and integration to transform and modernise the subsea sector in ways that strengthen the blue digital ecosystem and achieve true transformation through integration.
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