The summit will gather 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 will also discuss 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 will be considered as one of the key issues.

The forum is also an occasion to celebrate scientific and industrial achievements connected with the sea. For this purpose, the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) is organising the Blue Economy Business Awards 2016, which recognise and reward individuals or organisations who have made a specific contribution to bringing and developing innovation in the Blue Economy.