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DNV GL 150th Anniversary

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Celebrating DNV GLs 150th Anniversary in Trondheim. Here is my welcoming speech:

Dear DNV GL, dear distinguished guests, dear all – congratulations with the 150th anniversary for DNV, and for 1 year as DNV GL! With more than 16.000 employees, in more than 100 of the world’s countries, DNV GL is one of Norway’s greatest successes worldwide.

When I think of DNV GL, two words comes to my mind; Risk and Trust.
The famous British sociologist Anthony Giddens, once wrote: Apart from some marginal contexts, in the Middle Ages there was no concept of risk. The idea of risk appears to have taken hold in the 16th and 17th centuries, and was first coined by Western explorers as they set off on their voyages across the world. The word 'risk' seems to have come into English through Spanish or Portuguese, where it was used to refer to sailing into uncharted waters.

(...)Traditional cultures didn't have a concept of risk because they didn't need one. Risk isn't the same as hazard or danger. Risk refers to hazards that are actively assessed in relation to future possibilities. It only comes into wide usage in a society that is future-oriented - which sees the future precisely as a territory to be conquered or colonised. Risk presumes a society that actively tries to break away from its past - the prime characteristic indeed of modern industrial civilisation.(...) 

And DNV GL is the Global Provider of services for managing risk, and you have contributed to creating trust between players in shipping and industry, between suppliers and customers, and in technology and systems. By issuing certificates, conducting inspections, defining norms and setting standards in a number of areas, the society has facilitated trade and transport, made agreements possible between geographically separated parties, influenced marine insurance and financing, and regulated aspects of maritime technology, as the new book "Building Trust - the History of DNV", describes it.

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70 percent of the world is oceans. 80 percent of the oceans are deeper than 3000 meters, the deepest depth that human commercial activity has set footprint, in the Gulf of Mexico. We have probably used more resources in exploring the outer space than the ocean space. We also know that many of our greatest challenges; climate, food, minerals, transport and energy, have to find their solutions in the Ocean Space.

Norway has access to a giant economic zone offshore and an enormous ocean space. Seven times of our area onshore. 2/3 of all Norwegian export earnings come from economic activities and resources related to the fjords and the ocean - from oil and gas, fishing and aquaculture. If we include shipping and our global fleet, the numbers rise to almost 90 percent.

But there is more to explore. More to understand and more to harvest in deeper oceans and more challenging and complex environments.

Last week we celebrated another anniversary related to the Ocean Space and technological development, MARINTEK’s Towing tank. The Towing tank was officially opened 1st of Sept. 1939. The tank has been an important supplier of knowledge for the maritime industry for 75 years. In the wake of the towing tank, an excellent research environment has emerged.

Through the history DNV GL has been an important supporter for the Towing tank and the milieu located at Tyholt. Today DNV GL is the third largest owner of the Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute, MARINTEK.

Many of you are familiar with Trondheim. I have learned that almost 40 percent of the Norwegian employees have been studying here.

Trondheim and Trøndelag is well known for its research and educational environment. With institutions such as NTNU and SINTEF, Trondheim is the technology capital of Norway. Over 30.000 students study in Trondheim, and they amount to 1/6th of the inhabitants of Trondheim. That makes Trondheim a young, pulsating and vital city!

And while the University recruit students based on its excellent academic merits, the Student Organization decided to introduce the “Sweetheart Guarantee”. They guarantee that every student will have a boy – or girlfriend during their studies. The small print says you have to make an effort yourself, and we cannot guarantee it will be a local one – but we recommend that.

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In Trøndelag, we deeply appreciate DNVs long involvement in Trondheim. Hopefully, you will contribute to realize the futures knowledge hub for Ocean Space Technology, the Ocean Space Center! Congratulations with the anniversary!

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