Promoting business investment in R&I, developing links and synergies between enterprises, research and development centres and the higher education sector, in particular promoting investment in product and service development, technology transfer, social innovation, eco-innovation, public service applications, demand stimulation, networking, clusters and open innovation through smart specialisation and supporting technological and applied research, pilot lines, early product validation actions, advanced manufacturing capabilities and first production, in particular in key enabling technologies and diffusion of general purpose technologies.

This SO aims at improving the performance of the Programme area in the field of innovation by establishing and developing mechanisms which contribute to a better exploitation of the blue economy’s relevant sectors targeted by the Programme: blue energy, aquaculture and sustainable fisheries, maritime and coastal tourism, sea shipping, marine biotechnology, desalination, coastal protection, monitoring and surveillance.
The main change envisaged is to increase the effectiveness of the innovation activities in these sectors by enhancing the transfer of knowledge between the enterprises, R&D centres, higher education and the public sector located in the cooperation area. A more profitable commercialization of the research results and a broader access to knowledge are also expected.

Types of actions

Joint projects and actions aimed at creating platforms, networks and at supporting exchange of good practices in order to enhance the knowledge transfer and capitalization of achieved results in the field of blue economy.

Actions aimed at cluster cooperation, joint pilot initiatives in order to boost the creation of marketable innovative processes and products, in the field of blue economy.