The partners of the FP7 European project for research, observations and management of the oceans (EU-FP7-GROOM) witch main goal is the design study for a sustainable European glider research infrastructure (RI) held at the Cyprus Oceanographic Centre (OC/UCY) headquarters in Nicosia, from January 15th to 17th, 2013 a regular follow-up meeting of the project with a wide representation of its partner consortium members.
The expert from the European Commission on RIS3 ( Smart Specialisation Strategy ) and Director of EURADA (European Association of Regional Development Agencies), Christian Saublens, has visited the premises of PLOCAN and participated in a number of meetings with his Director Octavio Llinás. This is due to the current preparation by the marine-maritime sector of the Canary Islands the smart specialisation strategy within the RIS3 of the Canary Islands. The director f of PLOCAN mentioned that PLOCAN aims at promoting the knowledge base economy in the Canary Islands facilitating the development of innovative technologies making use of the marine resources by both researchers and entrepreneurs . This, with the objective of generating and introducing in the market new solutions and services in the marine-maritime field.
The visit to PLOCAN was held on 8th January 2013 as continuation of the meeting with the representatives of both the port and maritime sectors from the Archipelago- members of the regional Maritime Cluster- organised in the premises of the Port Authority of Las Palmas in order to exchange views on the dimension of the sector in the RIS3 of the Canary Islands.
It was highlighted the huge socio-economic potential of the marine-maritime sector in the Canary Islands and the need to orient the public investment to develop mechanisms to promote the cooperation between research and private sector to provide common solutions to the new challenges and opportunities , following the European Commission´ priorities for the “Blue Economy” in the European Union.
