Presentation copywriting - UKHO
01 December 2009 saw the global launch of Admiralty e-Navigator at Shanghai's Science and Technology Museum.
200 guests from shipping companies around the world heard UKHO's top executive team describe and demonstrate how the UKHO is changing maritime navigation.
Welcome to the future...
Good evening, and welcome to The Future of Navigation.
I'm Melissa Hyak and I'm here to introduce this evening's speakers, to get the full picture on today's launch, from both a marine and a business perspective, and to cover off the boring basics, so...
....please note that the fire exits are here, here and here. And please make sure your cellphone is switched off. (Plus any other essentials.)
I'm delighted to be here tonight. I can see that the UKHO has yet again managed to attract a very high calibre audience! I recognise some faces from the recent ECDIS conference in Singapore – I shall do my best to avoid repetition!
We're here, as you know, for the launch of the Future of Navigation. And what a time this is from which to look ahead. A year or so ago, the whole world's economy suddenly seemed to be facing meltdown. The longest sustained period of growth in history ran aground overnight, bringing in nervous talk of a return to the '30s – world economic depression on a scale very few could remember.
Since then we've seen unprecedented levels of government intervention, and what feels like stability at the least, even perhaps the first glimmerings of recovery.
So far so good.
We seem to have stepped back from the abyss. Perhaps this would be a good moment to take a little time out, take a breather, and ask some basic questions. Such as: 'where do we go from here?'
The UK Hydrographic Office has been asking that question for some time now. They tell me they have the answer. And it's that answer that we'll be outlining to you this evening.
In a couple of minutes I'll be joined on stage by Michael Cauter, UKHO's Chief Operating Officer, and UK National Hydrographer Rear Admiral Iain Moncrieff. They'll be giving us a brief overview of how that future looks to them, and I'll be asking them to clarify for us the importance of today's launch. What is the future of marine navigation? And how are things set to change for everyone in the industry, from the mariner on the ocean to the marine superintendent back on shore to the Chief Financial Officer, trying to make all the numbers add up.
After that, the UKHO's CEO Mike Robinson will be coming out to give us a first look at the new E-Navigator, using some very futuristic technology in this most futuristic setting to give us a taste of tomorrow.
One thing is for certain. If the last year has seen us draw back from the brink of disaster, we're still quite some way from the kind of meaningful recovery that will improve life for the world's ever-increasing population. If we are to see prosperity rather than poverty, and peace rather than conflict; if we are to work together and build for a better future; we need to think ahead more, we need to talk more, and we need to trade more.
Singapore or Shanghai, the world economy of the future is taking shape right here, right now. Bringing that future to the rest of the world will continue to be done as it's always been done: by mariners, on ships, on the oceans of the world.
But the way that's done is about to change for ever.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to welcome to the stage Michael Cauter, the Chief Operating Officer of the UKHO, and UK National Hydrographer, Rear Admiral Iain Moncrieff.
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