Leadership and Vision Behind the D-NAVIO Consortium
Inside Horizon Europe D-NAVIO: Challenges and Opportunities in Coordinating a Multi-Country Consortium
At the heart of every ambitious European research project stands not only innovation but also collaboration — the ability to unite expertise, perspectives, and shared goals across borders.
Within D-NAVIO (Digital-Ship), this collaboration is guided by Christos Ntanos, Research Director at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and Project Coordinator within the consortium. With extensive experience in EU-funded initiatives, Christos leads sixteen partner organizations from seven countries toward a shared vision: shaping the future of maritime transport through Intelligent Digital Twin (IDT) technology.
As part of our collaboration within the consortium, we spoke with Christos to learn from his experience in managing complex EU projects and to gather insights that can help all partners — including DIAMATIX — make the most of D-NAVIO’s potential, both technically and as a human journey of shared expertise and growth.
Personal Introduction
Could you briefly introduce yourself and your role at NTUA, as well as your background in coordinating European research projects?
My name is Christos Ntanos. I’ve been working in NTUA’s Decision Support Systems Laboratory for almost twenty years now. I work as a Research Director, tasked with leading several research teams from the ideation of original ideas all the way to their implementation and practical validation. I’ve worked on over 30 projects in several fields, all related to different aspects of Decision Support and Software Engineering, from multiple positions, including those of researcher, software engineer, team leader, project manager, technical coordinator, and project coordinator. Of the five projects I had the honour of coordinating, two have already been recognised as EU R&I Success Stories.
About the Project
For those who are new to D-NAVIO, how would you describe the project in just a few sentences?
D-NAVIO stands at the forefront of the digital transformation of traditionally mature sectors that have until now remained outside the full reach of the Information Age due to their high level of optimisation and stability. The times, however, have brought about digital risks that can now have significant physical consequences. As such, large vessels carrying tens to hundreds of thousands of tons of valuable cargo or several thousands of invaluable souls, need to operate under a supervisory framework where physical and digital threats are treated with equal priority and managed through unified safety and resilience systems. D-NAVIO is exploring a future in which every ship has its own digital twin, an intelligent clone of its systems, that can detect anomalies, predict faults, and guide crews before problems arise.
What makes this initiative unique compared to other European projects in the maritime and transport domain?
D-NAVIO seeks to treat the digital and physical domain of maritime risk management under the under the same integrated framework, bringing together explainable AI, cybersecurity, and reliability engineering. The Intelligent Digital Twin of the ship can act both as a real time representation and monitor of the ship’s systems, as well as a testbed for threat scenarios and failure simulations enabling continuous learning and proactive risk management.
Challenges in Coordination
Managing a consortium of 16 partners from 7 countries sounds exciting but also complex. What are the biggest challenges in aligning different organizations, disciplines, and perspectives?
Coordinating a consortium of this scale means aligning not only different disciplines but also different organisational cultures. Some value precision and method, others thrive on ideation and exploration, and others emphasise pragmatism and results. Defining a common language between them starts with understanding how their priorities and needs translate into an overarching goal. Once this common language has been found, the different perspectives and viewpoints naturally begin to align, inspiring progress and creating knowledge and value for the project partners, stakeholders, and society at large.
What skills or approaches do you find most valuable when managing such a diverse and multidisciplinary team?
The role of the project coordinator in research is that of an advisor and enabler. Every project partner and every individual participating have their own needs and ambitions. They all act as puzzle pieces in a larger image. Finding everyone’s place and creating opportunities for them to thrive and fulfil those individual motivations is what makes the group work in tandem to achieve the collective goals. This requires a shared clear vision, structure, and empathy.
Technical Innovation
From your perspective, what are the most promising innovations within D-NAVIO—such as XAI, self-healing technologies, or the concept of the “digital clone of ships”?
The most promising aspect of D-NAVIO is its ability to bring many advanced concepts together into a single operational vision. The idea of a “digital clone of the ship” is central. This isn’t a static model, but as a living digital counterpart that learns, reasons, and adapts. Around it, explainable and self-healing AI technologies form an intelligence layer capable of predicting hazards and maintaining trust in autonomous decisions.
How do you see the impact of these technologies on the maritime sector in the next 5–10 years?
Over the next decade, these technologies will move maritime operations from reactive maintenance to continuous assurance. Ships will be certified and monitored in real time rather than through periodic inspection, and decision-making will shift from manual observation to data-driven foresight. Beyond efficiency and safety, this will help define new standards for how human crews, AI systems, and regulatory bodies cooperate. This will be an evolution comparable to the introduction of radar or GPS.
Strategic Value
Beyond the technology, what do you think is the long-term value of D-NAVIO for Europe’s maritime industry?
The real value of D-NAVIO isn’t just in what it builds, but in what it enables. It helps Europe’s maritime community move from fragmented innovation to a shared digital backbone, one that makes ships safer, operations more efficient, and regulations more forward-looking. It has the potential to give European shipping a common language for managing both physical and cyber risks, something that will define competitiveness and safety in the years to come.
How can projects like D-NAVIO support the transition to safer, greener, and more autonomous shipping?
By making safety intelligent and data-driven, D-NAVIO opens the door to cleaner and more autonomous operations. A ship that understands itself can operate more efficiently, adapt to changing conditions, and plan maintenance in ways that reduce waste and downtime. Safety, sustainability, and autonomy all reinforce each other once the digital foundation is in place.
Personal Reflection
On a more personal note, what inspires you most about working on this project?
D-NAVIO is a tremendous opportunity to have real and measurable impact on the safety and security of large vessels, with a positive impact on operations, trade, human life, and the environment. I fully acknowledge that effective risk management means uneventful systems’ operation, but when it comes to real-world dangers, everyone involved would prefer a boring day to an exciting one. In a way, D-NAVIO is part of a continued effort and a personal journey to make our world just a little safer and less stressful.
Closing
What message would you like to share with stakeholders in the maritime and cybersecurity communities who are following D-NAVIO’s progress?
Digital and physical systems on board may still operate partly in parallel today, but their convergence is inevitable. Every new sensor, software component, or external data link expands both the potential and the exposure of a vessel to risks. With each layer of connectivity, complexity grows, and with it, the need for oversight. Managing this complexity requires more than isolated tools. It requires a unified view of safety, resilience, and cybersecurity. D-NAVIO was built around that idea. It brings together engineers, data scientists, ship operators, and policy experts to create a common language for understanding and controlling risk across the entire digital ecosystem of a ship. As the maritime sector moves toward smarter and more autonomous operations, collaboration between these disciplines will be essential. Only by working together can we ensure that the next generation of ships is not only intelligent and efficient, but also safe, secure, and trustworthy.
Conclusion
The D-NAVIO project exemplifies how collaboration and clear leadership can turn complex ideas into tangible progress. Through its Intelligent Digital Twin vision, it connects research excellence, industrial expertise, and cybersecurity awareness into one shared goal — a safer, smarter, and more sustainable maritime future.
For DIAMATIX, contributing to D-NAVIO means more than bringing cybersecurity and compliance knowledge — it is about building trust into innovation. We are proud to support a consortium that demonstrates how technology and teamwork can together navigate complexity and chart a new course for Europe’s digital transformation at sea.
Trusted · Innovative · Vigilant.
Learn more
- Project Website: D-NAVIO Website
- D-NAVIO Newsletter: Sign-Up
- CORDIS project page (GA 101202933): Project details
- Project press release: D-NAVIO – Digital Ship launch announcement
- Project LinkTree: www.linktr.ee/dnavio
D-NAVIO is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
