The Conference on Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Sustainability in the Blue Economy was held with great success, in the framework of the project “Blue Innovators of Piraeus”, an initiative of the Municipality of Piraeus to highlight the innovative action of blue economy businesses.

The event was held on Wednesday, 23/10/2024 by the Municipality of Piraeus in cooperation with Break-Even Consulting and the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE), at the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry).

The competent ministers, the Governor of the Bank of Greece, the Presidents of the Chambers of Commerce, representatives of the Local Authorities, the academic community and the business world participated.

More than one hundred and fifty (150) attendees were informed about the latest developments in entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability of the blue economy, as well as the overall results of the Blue Innovators of Piraeus project as a network of collaborators and its impact on the local blue economy.

The conference was opened by the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Piraeus, Mr. Dimitris Karydis and the Vice President of EBEP and President of the Association of Industries of Athens and Piraeus, Mr. Dimitris Mathios, who stressed the importance of supporting and strengthening the extroversion of small and medium-sized enterprises and their financing.

The Mayor of Piraeus, Mr. Yannis Moralis underlined: “At the Conference on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainability in the Blue Economy organized by the Municipality of Piraeus, we had the pleasure of welcoming the Minister of Development Takis Theodoricakos, the Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou, the Deputy Minister of Shipping and Insular Policy Stefanos Gikas and the Governor of the Bank of Greece Yannis Stournaras, who on the one hand stressed the importance of the Blue Economy in the country and the national economy and on the other hand acknowledged the systematic work that we have done as a municipality in supporting mainly small and medium-sized entrepreneurship, start-ups and innovation businesses in the field of Blue Development.

We are pleased and proud that over the last 10 years we have been successful in having the Municipal Authority be part of the conversation about the Blue Economy, about the development of the city about the marine economy. With important initiatives and structures, including the Entrepreneurship Support Centre, the Young Enterprise Promotion Centre, the Blue Lab, and the annual Bluegrowth innovation competition for start-ups.

Piraeus is one of the first cities in Greece to formulate a Blue Growth Strategy. We are working on this Strategy methodically, we are cooperating closely with the Chambers of Commerce and the productive bodies of our city, with whom we are working together on this common vision, and the results of this very good cooperation are now visible and measurable.”

The keynote speeches followed, with the Minister of Development, Mr. Takis Theodoricakos, noting that: “there can be no regional development plan without local government playing a key role in this plan. Municipalities must be engaged very seriously and systematically as powerful players in the economic development of the country. As far as regional development is concerned, there is no doubt that Piraeus is the centre of the Greek Blue Economy. He said that “innovation is a prerequisite for boosting productivity and creating competitive products in international markets”. He said that small and medium-sized enterprises will be supported with programs amounting to 1 billion 360 million euros. Focusing on startups, from 1/1/2025, a residence permit in the form of a golden visa will be granted for an investment of two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) in a startup company, a member of the National Registry of Startups (Elevate Greece).

The Governor of the Bank of Greece, Mr. Yannis Stournaras, presented data on the significant contribution of the blue economy to the national economy, taking into account the island character of the country and its long coastline. It was stressed that: “coastal tourism, employing 83% of the workforce, and maritime transport are the most important activities in terms of Gross Added Value for the Greek Blue Economy. At the same time, they are also the most outward-looking sectors of the Greek maritime economy. The recent Draghi report on the future competitiveness of the European economy highlighted the role of transport and shipping, both for the development of other sectors of the European economy and for the security and defense of the EU. Skills development strategies are needed to bridge the gap between skills demand and skills availability, especially in the shipbuilding and offshore renewable energy sectors.”

The keynote speeches were concluded with a speech by the Rector of the University of Piraeus, Mr: “The history of man is intertwined with the Blue Economy. If the Blue Economy were a country, it would be the fifth richest in the world representing 5% of the world’s GDP, so you can imagine how important it would be to represent Greece with this coastline and the islands it has. The four components that we see – entrepreneurship, innovation, sustainability, and the Blue Economy – are important for our University and we serve them all in the best possible way I believe.”

Afterwards, the overall results of the “Blue Innovators of Piraeus” support mechanism were presented by the Project Coordinator, Dr. Evangelos Siokas, the Head of Actions, Ms. Eleni Mitsea, and the member of the study team, Dr. Petros Dimas.

The program was of 14 months duration and was based on four axes: Education and Guidance, Networking, Infrastructure, Publicity, and Outreach. The program supported a total of more than 230 businesses in the Municipality of Piraeus, providing over 500 hours of support, including on-site meetings, participation in three (3) exhibitions, and the organization of four (4) training seminars.

This was followed by the award ceremony for the best business ideas of the 9th “Blue Growth Piraeus” Innovation Competition.

The 9th edition of the 9th Piraeus Piraeus Piraeus Innovation Award was held at the 9th Thessaloniki City Hall.
The opening of the ceremony included greetings from representatives of the Piraeus Chambers of Commerce. More specifically, brief remarks were made by the President of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. George Papamanolis-Dozas, the President of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Theodoros Capralos, the Vice President of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Mr. Konstantinos Markoulidakis, the President of the Industrial Park of Schistos, Mr. Yannis Polychronopoulos, the President of the Shipping Committee of the Municipality of Piraeus, Mr. Nikolaos Chrysofakis and the representative of WIMA, Mr. Spyros Gouma.

This was followed by a live presentation of the seven (7) best teams that were distinguished from the original 27 participating teams during this year’s 9th Blue Growth Piraeus competition (Nature4Nature, Nereid, Angelfish, Permedial, CTP, Kooti Agrivoltaics and Eco Wave Dynamis) to the members of the evaluation committee.

The ceremony was attended and greeted by the Minister of Digital Governance, Mr. Dimitris Papastergiou, who congratulated the Municipality of Piraeus for its initiatives and referred to the close cooperation that has been developed in his capacity either as President of KEDE or as Minister of Digital Governance. He stressed that local government provides quick solutions and young people provide effective and smart solutions in a different light. It is no coincidence that 11% of scientists working on artificial intelligence have come from Greek universities.

He also pointed out that shipping today can be supported by a system of microsatellites (IT hub), in which Greece participates, which can collect new data accurately.

The European Commission has also joined this project.

The awards for the best proposals in this year’s competition were as follows:

Best Presentation (€1000 prize via live voting by the event audience) and

1st place (€5,000 prize): Nature4Nature

Nature4Nature is developing environmentally friendly artificial reefs using local bacteria to stabilise sediment on beaches and mitigate the effects of climate change, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional, temporary methods.

2nd place (€3,000 prize).

NEREID offers innovative software to address key challenges in marine tourism by automating marina operations, leveraging artificial intelligence and 3D models to improve efficiency and revenue security, while providing advanced services to boat owners for greater convenience and time savings.

3rd place (€2,000 prize).

3rd place – Angelfish.
The business idea is to create a spin-off company to develop autonomous boats with the “Angelfish” system for cleaning bodies of water, with autonomous navigation, waste collection and wave energy harvesting capabilities, targeting customers such as boat owners, hotels, and water managers.

The event also included two-panel discussions with a focus on the blue economy.

The first panel, titled “From Research to Market: The Role of Universities in Fostering Entrepreneurship and Sustainability in the Blue Economy”, moderated by Mr. Stavros Papadopoulos, Entrepreneurship Development Manager at New Georgia New Generation, and attended by renowned academics such as Mr. Yannis Kalogirou, Professor Emeritus of NTUA, Mr. Dimitrios Lyridis, Professor of the Department of Naval Mechanical Engineering of NTUA and Professor and President of the Department of Maritime Studies of the University of Piraeus, Mr. Yannis Theotokas. The panel discussed the ways in which scientific research can be transformed into business innovations, as well as the gaps that exist between research and market in the blue economy sector.

The second panel, entitled “Blue Economy and Financial Instruments: From Theory to Practice”, was moderated by Nikos Karavitis, Professor of Public Economics at the Department of Public Administration, Panteion University. The discussion was also attended by the Head of the Athens Office of the General Directorate of Economic and Financial Affairs, Ms Irini Vlahaki, the Director of Innovation at the Hellenic Development Bank, Mr Panagiotis Papageorgiou, and the Strategic Analyst for the Development of Innovative Entrepreneurship at the National Bank of Greece, Mr George Nikolaou. The discussion focused on the challenges and financing opportunities for businesses operating in the blue economy, highlighting specific investment tools and programs.

Finally, a keynote presentation was given by Mr. Marc Van Aken, CEO of the Belgian company SO Kwadraat, on “20 Years SO Kwadraat – Converting Research into Companies”, who described an innovative approach to supporting technology companies. At the same time, Mr. Van Aken spoke about the challenges that exist in every business journey: from the idea phase to the take-off of a new venture, information that sparked the interest of the audience.

.