The Blue Innovation Symposium, 2021’s kickoff event for the Blue Economy, is being held virtually on February 2, from 2-4PM. This, the sixth edition of the Blue Innovation Symposium, will gather ocean industry leaders, blue tech startups, government officials and key marine tech associations to discuss the conference’s theme: The Next Wave in Ocean Tech.

The Blue Innovation Symposium has developed an exciting, concise, virtual program which brings global innovators in ocean technology to our historic regional audience and beyond. This year’s agenda begins with a keynote from Professor Matthew Dunbabin, Queensland University of Technology, who will present recent results of robotics applied to the restoration of coral reefs. This will be followed by a panel of emerging ocean technology innovators and entrepreneurs.

Building on the conference’s long-standing relationship with Canada this panel will be moderated by Melanie Nadeau, CEO of the Center for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Panel participants will include representatives from Seahawk Robotics, Dartmouth Ocean Technologies, BAE Systems (Riptide), and Ocius. These participants from Canada, the USA and Australia will speak to Uncrewed Undersea Vehicles (UUVs), Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs), Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) and novel instrumentation.

“For this year’s conference, we have assembled a terrific line up of speakers to discuss cutting edge applications and new technologies in marine robotics,” according to Dr. Toby Stapleton, the managing director, and co-founder, for the Blue Innovation Symposium.

The 2021 virtual event is being organized by The Consulate General of Canada in Boston, the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce, and TSC Strategic, an ocean industries marketing and media agency whose portfolio of publications includes Ocean News & Technology, also known as ON&T.