一方、米国では先進国防研究庁(DARPA: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)が運輸省海事局の助言を受けてMARITECHという研究プログラムを推進しており、その研究の主旨や概要は海運造船分野のEspritとほぼ似たようなものである。ただし書いてあることは立派であっても、米国造船業の場合、艦艇と内航商船が殆どであり外航用の商船建造が皆無に近いため、今のところあまり迫力は感じられない。しかしながら、そもそも造舶Webが利用しようとしているインターネットは、このDARPAによって生み出されたものであり、いわばその本家が米国の造船業再生を目指して取り組んでいるわけであって、他の分野での米国製造業復活の現状を見るにつけ、このMARITECHプログラムについても、今後はその動向に注意を払う必要があると考えられる。
以下に、現在実施されているMARITECH傘下の開発研究プログラムの名称と概要を記す。詳しくは、本章の末尾に掲載したMARITECHのウエブサイトでその内容を参照されたい。
COMPASS：Component Object Model of Products/Processes for an Advanced Shipbuilding System, embodies the virtual enterprise philosophy, where a central product model provides all participants with a comprehensive understanding of the ship's design.
MAAST：The Virtual Shipbuilding Consortium (VSC) is defining an architecture for the application of virtual organization procedures to shipbuilding. Planned to result in innovations which dramatically reduce construction time and cost, the VSC is developing an infrastructure named MAritime Agile Shipbuilding Toolkit (MAAST) to address the full range of products and ship types.
MariSTEP：The project objectives are to implement a neutral file transfer capability between the product models at the U.S.shipyards, and to develop a United States marine industry prototype product model database which will facilitate the implementation of translators and product model data architectures by U.S. shipyards and CAD system developers.
SHIIP：The Shipbuilding Information Infrastructure Project (SHIIP) will develop and deploy a new shipbuilding methodology that addresses both people and organization issues. New shipbuilding processes will be developed, documented, and validated by a broad-based team of shipbuilders. New organizational paradigms, such as a team-based approach to shipbuilding, will be investigated, deployed, and measured for effectiveness.
SPARS：is a project to enable Virtual Enterprise capabilities amongst US Shipyards: Shipbuilding Partners and Suppliers (SPARS) using National Industrial Information Infrastructure Protocols (NIIIP). Benefits will include rapid and effective partnering amongst the US Shipbuilding Community for rapid response, and open common infrastructure, the minimization of reconfiguration costs, and the ability to capture information once, and use many times.
