A look back on a successful Blue Innovation Party Antwerp
On 25 October, Blue Cluster organised the first edition of the Blue Innovation Party in Antwerp. The event took place in the Philippe Saverys hall in the MCA Labs buildings. More than 50 blue economy actors were present.
After a warm welcome by Bart Huybrechts (Managing Director of MCA) and Ann Overmeire (COO of Blue Cluster), the attendees were able to follow the Blue Innovation Awards ceremony in Dubai live and vote for the Inspirational Blue Wave award.
Following the announcement of the winners, two more speakers were scheduled:
- Divisional Admiral De Beurme (Belgian Navy) highlighted the importance of cooperation between the navy and the business world in terms of innovation and elaborated on the challenges surrounding cybersecurity and drones;
- Eric Finé (Smulders) talked about the importance, added value and challenges of innovation, not shying away from mentioning that innovation is always a risk and that sometimes things go wrong.
Afterwards, Jos Smits, chairman of Blue Cluster, took the floor to thank all attendees for coming.
After the official programme came to an end, all attendees were able to enjoy a dessert buffet. Afterwards, everyone had ample opportunity to catch up or make new connections.
