Maritime Affairs

Blue Economy Business and Science Forum 1st Summit – Hamburg

Blue Economy Business and Science Forum 1st Summit – Hamburg

Blue Economy Business and Science Forum 1st Summit – Hamburg

12/09/2016 to 13/09/2016

The first summit of the Blue Economy Business and Science Forum took place in Hamburg on 12-13 September 2016 at the International Maritime Museum Hamburg.

The Hamburg Summit gathered together over 200 Blue Economy stakeholders to discuss and propose solutions on:

  • how to boost the European competitiveness in marine and maritime technologies;
  • how to increase cooperation between science and industrial sectors; and
  • how to fully demonstrate the value of innovative technologies, scale them up and bring them to the market.

Participants also discussed bottlenecks hindering the commercialisation of innovative blue technologies in the EU. Innovation is costly and even more so in the marine environment. Therefore, access to finance for innovation was considered as one of the key issues. The event explored the new Commission proposal on the European Innovation Council as an opportunity for Blue Economy entrepreneurs-innovators.

The Summit delivered concrete recommendations on:

  • How to benefit from already existing research, innovation and technology achievements to speed-up commercialisation of marine technologies.
  • How to bring science and business communities closer.
  • How to encourage cross-sectorial collaboration.
  • What regulatory and financial measures the European Commission should take to boost investments in the Blue Economy.

From the conference

Project presentations

See also

Videos