The European EMPORIA4KT project launches the Blue Economy Technology Transfer Programme to help researchers, through workshops and tutorials, to transfer early-stage technologies (EST) that have applicability in the Blue Economy. The Spanish project partners are the Campus of International Global Excellence of the Sea (CEIMAR), Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA) and the Foundation Centre for New Technologies of Water (CENTA). EMPORIA4KT is funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme.
Antonio Grilo, EMPORIA4KT Coordinator, said: “Despite the significant research and investment that goes into developing Blue Economy technologies, they often fail to progress from the lab to market. The expert mentorship provided by our programme supports technology owners and researchers to turn their ideas into commercially viable products”. This programme will provide training to young researchers and the necessary support to senior researchers so that their technologies are applied in the sectors of the Blue Economy.
The programme will be divided into two phases. The first phase will consist of online workshops (which will begin in March 2021) in which the participants will receive training in skills related to innovation and technology transfer activities.
The second phase consists of a 9-month mentoring programme (April – December 2021), during which participants will meet at 3 face to face events, in addition to regular online meetings via virtual collaboration tools. The objective is to design the best commercialisation routes for its researchs on early-stage technologies.
The Blue Economy Technology Transfer Programme will be developed in 2 calls:
Call for technologies: 3 technologies will be selected to design the best commercialisation route for each of them. Deadline extended to 5th October 2020.
Calls for researchers: 12 researchers will be selected to train and work with the selected technologies, applying the necessary resources for their transfer to the market. The application period for this phase is expected to open during the first week of September 2020.
The programme will conclude with a brokerage event in Brussels, where the selected technologies from across the 5 participating countries will be presented to an audience of international Blue Economy expert stakeholders. One EST will be selected to receive additional funding for further proof-of-concept studies.
Research teams will focus on best EST market fit, how to obtain funding, insights into the most cost-effective roadmap for development, and how to take industry standards and regulations into account. The outcome will be a detailed commercialisation strategy (owned by the EST-owner) to develop the technology further and increase the likelihood of transfer to market.
