Tuesday, September 26, 2017
OSRL is pleased to announce dates for the annual ITAC meeting, which will be co-hosted by Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK on 26th – 28th September 2017.
For the ITAC timetable please click here
For an Introduction and Welcome from Plymouth Marine Laboratory please click here
About ITAC
The Industry Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) is non-commercial and is driven by OSRL as part of our advocacy programme, recognising the benefits of engaging our front-line response staff in industry-focussed technical discussion central to developing more effective oil spill response. We hold an ITAC meeting once per year, hosted in different locations with the meeting chaired by different ITAC members. We try to blend both international themes with items of regional interest according to where the meeting is being held.
ITAC’s Objectives
ITAC’s membership comprises oil industry (i.e. members of OSRL and other GRN OSROs) international organisations (ITOPF, IMO, IOPC etc), Governmental organisations (USCG, NOAA, etc...) R&D institutes (CEDRE, GoMRI etc...) . It also includes academic institutes involved in industry backed studies, and other organisations with a non-commercial interest in improving oil spill response.
The connection with academia is an important feature of the ITAC model recognising that industry is a big financial supporter of university-based research but sometimes there has been a disconnect with the sharing of knowledge and outputs from these studies with “industry” which ITAC tries to address.
The story so far
ITAC is a technical forum which was established in 1996 to address oil spill response (OSR) issues of interest to its member organisations and the wider response community. ITAC projects sought to provide advice, technical support, good-practice guidelines and benchmarking on key issues such as new technological developments in oil spill response techniques, training and response capabilities.
ITAC has evolved over last twenty years and his model has changed in recent times. Recognising that much of the delivery industry technical outputs is now being channelled through the OGP/IPIECA JIP and the API projects in the US. ITAC has now been cast in the role of supporting outreach and communication for those industry technical outputs to reach a broader church of stakeholders in the wider oil spill community. As such ITAC no longer “delivers” tangible work items but now offers a forum for knowledge sharing and information exchange.
Detailed agenda to follow shortly, for more information please contact: Andy Nicoll
Accommodation
We have arranged a Corporate Rate of £96 per night Bed & Breakfast at the Crowne Plaza (formerly Holiday Inn), Armada Way, Plymouth PL1 2HJ. To book this rate please contact the hotel direct on +44 (0)871 942 9130 and quote ‘Plymouth Marine Lab (ITAC 2017)’. Please book by Friday 8th September to receive this offer.
Travel
Directions to PML: http://www.pml.ac.uk/Contact_us
Parking: we can reserve parking for you and for selected delegates i.e. those who may have a disability; unfortunately we do not have sufficient parking on site for all delegates; there is on road parking nearby.
Travel information to and from Exeter Airport – https://www.exeter-airport.co.uk/to-and-from-the-airport/ For the travel from Exeter Airport there are bus & train services to Plymouth or delegates could use an airport transfer company; we normally use: Allports Travel – allportstravel@sky.com and Travellink – info@a38flyfer.com. There is also car rental also available from the airport. Bus & Train - Airport to St David’s train station: 20 minutes in a taxi or 30 minutes on bus [Service 56 (56A 56B) operated by Stagecoach – roughly 1 bus an hour Mon-Fri] and then the train from Exeter St Davids to Plymouth: Takes 1 hour – departs at least every 40 minutes after 9am (up to every 10 minutes)
GWR discounted train tickets - Tickets are only valid with proof of attendance at the conference. Ticket and proof of eligibility to hold them must be offered up for inspection at any time when asked by a ticket examiner; the discount cannot be combined with a railcard. For those who are interested; please advise to access the booking site via:
- Go to: https://www.gwr.com/your-journey/tickets-railcards-and-season-tickets/business-travel/conferences-and-accommodation
- Select 'Plymouth' from the list of destinations and this will take you to the correct booking site. This should be confirmed by the journey enquiry box being pre-populated with 'Plymouth Conference' as the destination station.
- From here Conference Fares to Plymouth are available from most GWR stations and also stations operated by other train companies in the London and SE area.
Information on Plymouth
http://www.visitplymouth.co.uk/visitor-information/tourist-information-centre-s