ENTREBLUE
Transforming European Maritime Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ecosystems via Shared STEM Innovation Acceleration Platforms & Global Talent Sourcing
About the project
Maritime operations are growing fast and becoming more complex – from autonomous vessels and offshore energy to port automation and cyber-secured navigation. Europe’s maritime universities hold the knowledge to make this sector safer, cleaner and more competitive, yet few of them are equipped to move STEM research quickly to the market, and women still represent under 15% of learners and professionals in maritime STEM.
ENTREBLUE responds by transforming seven maritime higher education institutions into entrepreneurial, inclusive innovation hubs. Coordinated by the University of Piraeus and funded under the EIT Higher Education Initiative, the project sets up Inclusive Ecosystem Integration Labs (IEILs) at six universities in Greece, Romania, Norway and Portugal, mentored by the University of Strathclyde, and connects them through a single digital gateway: the women-led maritime STEM innovation acceleration and growth platform. The platform brings together learners, mentors, maritime companies, investors and shared research infrastructures, so that ideas from the lab reach real end-users faster – with priority access for women innovators and under-represented groups.
What ENTREBLUE will deliver
- Ten microcredentials on maritime STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, with more than 6,000 students, academics and university staff trained and certified – at least half of them women and members of under-represented groups.
- Seven IEILs and one shared platform giving access to more than 40 maritime companies, 10+ shared test-beds and simulators, public and private investors and EIT Community resources.
- Acceleration and growth pilots for 30 maritime STEM start-ups, half of them women-led, 60 hybrid industry internships, and pilots on public-private funding pools and smart-specialisation policy.
- Citizen-science “Sea of Science” events, Women in Maritime Tech/STEM awards and an alliance of maritime universities committed to the project’s institutional transformation model.
RITE’s role
RITE takes part in ENTREBLUE as an Associated Partner, contributing technological expertise on a voluntary basis: virtual and augmented reality for maritime training and artificial intelligence and machine learning for the development of the ENTREBLUE platform (WP4); inclusive digital education methodologies for the microcredentials and the outreach activities (WP3 and WP6); and access to its technology-readiness acceleration platforms for the innovation pilots (WP4 and WP5). RITE works closely with CS Center for Sustainability (C4S), the Cypriot partner leading the platform work package and the dissemination activities, and with the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), also an Associated Partner – strengthening Cyprus’s contribution to Europe’s maritime innovation ecosystem.
Consortium
Higher education institutions: University of Piraeus (Greece, coordinator); Constanta Maritime University (Romania); “Mircea cel Batran” Naval Academy (Romania); University of South-Eastern Norway (Norway); University of York Europe Campus – CITY ULE (Greece); University of Strathclyde (United Kingdom); Atlântica University Institute (Portugal).
Innovation and industry partners: Deeptech Balkans (Serbia); CS Center for Sustainability (Cyprus); Carbon Smart Europa (Romania); BK Plus Europe (Cyprus); Association of Women Entrepreneurs in Moldova (Moldova); SUDOTIM (Romania).
Associated partners: Regional Development Agency of Sumadija & Pomoravlje (REDASP); Confindustria; Innovation Zone Thessaloniki; Port of Thessaloniki; Hellenic Business Angels Network; Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute; RITE – Research Institute for Technological Evolution; Klaipeda University; Burgas Free University.
ENTREBLUE is funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, under the EIT Higher Education Initiative.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
