The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) has hosted the meeting that marks the official launch of the Mid-Atlantic Test Site Network (Red BEAM) project, a strategic initiative aimed at fostering innovation in ocean technologies in the Macaronesian region and West Africa. This project seeks to establish a distributed hub for the development, testing, and validation of emerging and disruptive technologies in the marine field.
The main objective of Red BEAM is to improve the research and innovation capacities of local companies related to the marine-maritime sector, responding to the specific business needs of the region and increasing their international visibility.
The Mid-Atlantic Test Site Network: Validating New Ocean Technologies from Concept to Market (RedBEAM 1/MAC/1/1.1/0052), framed within the first call for grants of the Interreg MAC 2021-2027 program (co-financed with ERDF funds), has a budget of more than 2.4 million euros and a duration of 48 months.
“This is a strategic project for the region as it creates a space where knowledge is transformed into applied technologies in the marine-maritime field. The significance of this project is that the Macaronesian region keeps pace with the development of current deep technologies and does not fall behind in the advancement of this new wave of technologies in the blue economy,” said the director of PLOCAN, José Joaquín Hernández.
Focused on sustainability and internationalization, Red BEAM positions itself as an engine of economic growth and technological development in the Atlantic blue economy.
The initiative promotes collaboration between public and private actors, generating synergies that favor business cooperation and public-private collaboration.
“Among the participants are research entities, technology companies, and government agencies from the Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde, Ghana, and Senegal. This international cooperation reinforces the region’s capacity to become a reference in the development of sustainable and globally competitive marine technologies,” explained África Marrero, Innovation Manager at PLOCAN.
Key sectors addressed include aquaculture, unmanned maritime navigation, and marine renewable energies. Through the creation of pilot experiences in real operational scenarios to evaluate innovative technologies in these key sectors and case studies, Red BEAM will allow for needs assessment, demonstrator development, and results validation, thus ensuring a sustainable and effective approach in the implementation of new technologies.
Additionally, Red BEAM aims to promote knowledge exchange and training through workshops and training sessions, facilitating the valorization of results and the creation of strategic alliances for process standardization and certification.
The initiative also contemplates the identification of technological development opportunities in Macaronesia, as well as the evaluation of the socioeconomic impact of the test site network in the cooperation space.
