Blue Cluster provides inspiration for OECD policy paper

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a cooperation between 39 countries, recognises the importance of further digitisation for the economy. There is therefore a strong commitment to a broader strategy for digital innovation.

The Ocean Economy Group is a part of the OECD that provides information to improve research and innovation policies for sustainable ocean management. Within this context, a new policy paper on digitisation in the ocean economy was launched in early May.

Titled 'A new era of digitalisation for ocean sustainability? Prospects, benefits, challenges', the document elaborates on recent and upcoming digital technologies that may improve the sustainability of the ocean. The focus is mainly on observing the ocean. 

It is interesting to note that the policy document was inspired to a considerable extent by a workshop organised by Blue Cluster, VLIZ and the OECD in 2019 on the topic 'Digital Technologies in the Ocean Economy: Exploring the Future’.

This workshop took place on 20 November 2019 in Brussels and was part of G-STIC 2019. It mainly focused on the potential applications of digital technologies that were in the pipeline at that time.

G-STIC (Global Sustainable Technology & Innovation Community) annually organises a series of international conferences on technological innovations that can help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This series of conferences will be organised for the fifth time in 2021. 

Blue Cluster is happy to participate in this sustainability initiative and is responsible for the ‘Oceans’ section. Since last year, Blue Cluster has also presented the Blue Innovation Awards during the event. These awards honour sustainable and innovative projects of companies, organisations and governments in Flanders.