The university-industry collaboration conducted in the DHRTC with the ambitious goals of achieving commercially viable solutions in a short time frame is directly in line with the DTU mission of benefitting society based on the natural and technical sciences. It requires that the scientists take upon them the difficult choice between more or less promising paths taking into account both uncertainty and potential, and that they are given room to create radical new solutions in place of incremental development. This is crucial to the success of the center, and based on the results so far I am confident that it will meet its ambitions.

2017 also brought the North Sea agreement between the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC) and the Danish government to secure future investments in the North Sea and the acquisition on Maersk Oil A/S by Total S.A. Both events will bene t DHRTC and I look forward with confidence to 2018 as a productive year.