The Mid-Atlantic Test Sites Network (Red BEAM) met at the facilities of the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) to assess the initiatives undertaken to drive economic revitalisation and innovation, with the participation of the managers of the test sites and of the companies that use their services to trial emerging ocean technologies.
The scientific gathering discussed the role of test sites as engines of innovation, with contributions from the Director of PLOCAN, José Joaquín Hernández Brito; Ana Rodrigues, of the Agency for the Development and Training of the Sea of the Azores/School of the Sea (ADFMA/EMA), in the Azores; and Paulo Abreu, of ARDITI. It also addressed business cases spanning the journey from trial to market, drawing on testing experiences carried out at test sites, with contributions from Sam Johnston (Global OTEC), Javier Fernández (Enerocean) and Mirian Arellano (MacroCarbon), and concluded with a round table on test sites and the blue economy.
The round table focused on the importance of trialling prototypes in real-sea conditions within a framework of sustainable development based on co-innovation, and on the future of the services that test sites provide. Red BEAM connects the Canary Islands, Madeira, the Azores and West Africa in order to advance the research, development and validation of new marine and ocean technologies, with the aim of creating a blue innovation hub that strengthens public–private cooperation, boosts business competitiveness and establishes the region as an international benchmark in the marine economy.
The project responds to a challenge shared by the Atlantic’s outermost regions: their territorial fragmentation and their remoteness from the continent’s main innovation centres. Red BEAM proposes a solution based on interregional collaboration, bringing together infrastructure, knowledge and talent to form a distributed hub of test sites. This hub will enable companies and research centres to develop, test and validate emerging ocean technologies, generating synergies between the public and private sectors and contributing to the sustainable economic growth of the Mid-Atlantic.
The Mid-Atlantic Test Sites Network is a territorial cooperation initiative co-financed by the INTERREG MAC 2021–2027 Programme, aimed at strengthening the scientific, technological and business capabilities of the Macaronesian region and West Africa in the field of the blue economy. Its purpose is to create a shared space for ocean technology development that drives the validation of new technologies from concept to market, promoting sustainable innovation and transnational cooperation.
The BEAM Network’s approach is aligned with European innovation-driven transformation policies and with the objectives of the European Green Deal, promoting the energy transition, digitalisation and environmental sustainability. The initiative fosters cooperation between the territories of the Canary Islands, Madeira, the Azores, Cape Verde, Senegal and Ghana, extending the reach of the MAC Programme and strengthening scientific and economic ties between Europe and Africa. The aim is to consolidate a competitive, inclusive and resilient blue innovation ecosystem, capable of attracting investment and generating skilled employment.
