French industrial giants target Adelaide Uni for marine industries digital transformation

Australia’s offshore and marine sector is set to become more digitally savvy with the University of Adelaide today revealing a new ‘future workforce’ program.

Based on Dassault Système’s 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the four-month condensed course will leverage Capgemini’s expertise in areas including product life cycle management to cyber security, customer experience, cloud and artificial intelligence.

It builds on an existing relationship between Dassault and the university, which hosts the 3D design software company’s South Australian regional centre and with whom a similar program was delivered for the energy and minerals sector.

The new maritime-focused program is aimed at both experienced practitioners within the industry and fresh graduates, and will cover a mix of theory, practical and soft skills courses.

Participants in the course will also become familiar with digital management tools, including digital twins and collaboration platforms available through 3DEXPERIENCE.

Billed as an industry-first, it will also offer a pathway for workers from other industries to transition to the maritime sector to meet the growing demand for digitally capable staff, said Professor Pascale Quester, deputy vice-chancellor (academic) at the University of Adelaide.

“This new short course is a perfect example of how innovation in education can help upskill workers and to transition them from other industry sectors,” he said.

“The University of Adelaide has a strong commitment to working with industry partners, co-creating the workforce of the future and feeding directly into the defence skills base available in South Australia.”

Luc-Francois Salvador, executive chairman of Capgemini Asia Pacific, added that the new training program is set to increase the state’s ability to compete with other regions in defence and maritime activities.

“This industry collaboration is a catalyst for rapidly accelerating a more productive and
adaptive future workforce, especially in the defence and naval related industries in South
Australia,” Salvador said.

“The program will deliver a high calibre of talent which will help enhance global
competitiveness for Australia.”