Blue smart economy- A current approach towards growth

Abstract

Smart growth means improving the performance in education, research and innovation and in digital society, using information and communication technologies. This paper attempts to critically analyses blue smart growth, as the long term strategy to support sustainable growth, both in marine and maritime related sectors, in order to define its contribution to achieve the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. There is little doubt that in order to face current economic crisis, Europe needs the contribution of all sectors of its economy. In this context, the marine and maritime sectors – the 'blue economy' – have an important role to play in the overall road to Europe's economic recovery and could make a major contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The initiative focuses on:

• identifying a number of weaknesses to tackle barriers to innovation: under-investment in knowledge, poor access to finance, the high cost of intellectual property rights, slow progress towards interoperable standards, ineffective use of public procurement and duplications in research.
• tackling gaps in knowledge and data about the state of our oceans, seabed resources, marine life and risks to habitats and ecosystems;
• supporting the implementation of maritime spatial planning and knowledge-based support to management and decision-making towards the sustainable growth of the EU Mediterranean maritime economy in response to the societal and environmental challenges;