Diversity as a Driver of Innovation in the Maritime Industry
How can cultural diversity fuel innovation and sharpen competitiveness in the maritime industry? That question brought leaders, researchers, and practitioners together in Ålesund this week.
Foto: Jakob Sverre Løvstad and Manav Rihel Kumar, Seema.
Ålesund, 4 September 2025 – The workshop Cultural Intelligence as a Competitive Edge gathered industry leaders, academics, and practitioners at the ÅKP Innovation Arena to explore how cultural diversity fuels innovation capacity and strengthens competitiveness in the maritime sector.
Organized by GCE Blue Maritime Cluster, NCE Blue Legasea, NTNU in Ålesund, the national MARKOM program, and Seema, the event put a strong spotlight on how inclusion and cultural intelligence are no longer optional – but strategic prerequisites for growth and innovation.
For those unfamiliar with Seema and MARKOM, Seema is a Norwegian consultancy that helps organizations turn diversity into a strategic strength, while MARKOM II is a national program dedicated to strengthening maritime education and competence in Norway.
Diversity Done Right: A Powerful Innovation Tool
Industry voice Amrit Bhullar from VARD captured the essence in one sentence:
“Diversity is very powerful – if you do it right.”
Her message underlined how innovation is not just about new technology, but about the ability to combine perspectives, challenge established assumptions, and build solutions that reflect the complexity of a globalized market.
Academic Insights with Practical Relevance
Researchers Viktoriia Koilo and Mohammad Hosseini from NTNU emphasized that diversity is directly linked to talent attraction and retention – both critical for a sector under pressure. Hosseini talked about the barriers that exist where language and cultural codes risk excluding valuable expertise.
The challenge, he argued, is to cut the cake in a way that makes room for more voices. In practice, that means broadening definitions of competence and systematically reducing entry barriers for global talent.
From Culture to Performance
Seema’s experts, Manav Rihel Kumar and Jakob Sverre Løvstad, facilitated interactive sessions and shared practical frameworks on diversity leadership. Their approach demonstrated how cultural intelligence can be trained, measured, and embedded into organizational practice – ultimately improving decision-making, collaboration, and innovation outcomes.
As Kumar put it, cultural intelligence is not about accommodating differences – it is about leveraging them for better performance.
Looking Ahead
The workshop concluded with a clear message – maritime companies that succeed in diversity management can also succeed in innovation. Embedding cultural intelligence in leadership and education – a goal NTNU is now actively pursuing through the MARKOM program – will be crucial in preparing the industry for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Key Highlights:
- Diversity fuels innovation: More perspectives lead to better ideas and stronger solutions.
- Global talent attraction: Inclusive practices make Norway more competitive in the global market for expertise.
- Cultural intelligence is measurable: With the right tools, companies can build systematic capacity in diversity management.
- Performance gains: Diversity, when done right, translates directly into stronger collaboration and higher innovation capacity.
