In late 2008, SNAME asked the Maritime Economics Panel to develop a Task Statement for Economic Modeling. The idea was to obtain funding from the Society and other sources to assemble an open-source economic model that decision-makers could use in evaluating marine transportation projects, particularly scenarios involving the establishment of new services or utilizing new technologies.
An ad-Hoc Group was formed to develop the Task Statement. Members of the group included: Alex Landsburg, Chris McKesson, Darshan Murphy, Igor Mizine, Jonathan Waldron, Laurent Deschamps, Peter Wallace, Rick Thorpe, and Tim Colton. Several iterations of the Task Statement were developed, and the final version was discussed and approved at the panel's meeting in January 2009.
Subsequently, the panel forwarded its draft Task Statement for Economic Modeling to the SNAME Executive Committee for action. The committee critiqued the Task Statement, saying that funding would likely be unavailable for other than the environmental module.
Undetered, the panel chair is interested in having panel members perform "Task Zero" of the modeling effort -- that is, review the Task Statement's modules compared to existing economic models in the public domain or proprietary models that could be obtained or modified at a cost. This effort will begin shortly.
A link to the draft Task Statement follows: