Photo: THE OCEAN, Tove Lise Mossestad
THE OCEAN kicked off September 17th with a speech from Prime Minister, Erna Solberg. She was introduced by the host Arne Hjeltnes as “The Ocean Prime Minister”, as she rules over five time as much oceans as land.
Solberg spoke to an audience of 430 people about how the ocean industries are expected to create 40 million jobs globally by 2030 and that the ocean economy will double in the same period. – We are a world-leading player in all ocean industries, and we are one of the few countries in the world with a complete ocean cluster. We find this competence in Bergen, with a value chain represented by seafood, shipping, oil and gas, services and equipment, academia and R&D institutions. This region has was it takes to facilitate opportunities across the ocean industries, said the Prime Minister.
This view was echoed by other high-profiled representatives from the ocean industries, among them the key-note speakers Elisabeth Grieg from Grieg Maturitas, Beate Myking from Eqinor, New Energy Solutions, and Ole Eirik Lerøy from MOWI.
No less than 5 talk shows were hosted by Arne Hjeltnes where a multitude of ocean players from the industries and R&D institutions were among the guests – among them Grieg Seafood, IBM, the University of Bergen and IMR (Havforskningsinstituttet) were among the guests.
During the breaks, members of the seafood, shipping and energy sectors had the chance to mingle and share their experiences of working with the ocean.
The event is aimed at encouraging crossovers between different disciplines, and an even bigger and better follow-up event is already being planned for next year in Bergen.
THE OCEAN 2019 is concluded, but we hope to see you at THE OCEAN 17–19 September 2020.
See photos from THE OCEAN 2019 here.
About THE OCEAN
THE OCEAN is a new meeting arena for sharing of knowledge, cooperation and development of technology across the blue industries. The first event was in Bergen the 17th of September 2019.
THE OCEAN will be a yearly event, and the planning of further major investment in 2020 already started.
NCE Seafood Innovation Cluster is one, of many proud partners of THE OCEAN:
NCE Seafood Innovation Cluster, GCE Ocean Technology, VIS, The University of Bergen, The Institute of Marine Research, NCE Maritime CleanTech, Connect Norway, Bergen Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Invest in Bergen, NORCE, The Norwegian School of Economics, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen Municipality and Hordaland County Council.
Why not like THE OCEAN’s Facebook page to stay up‑to‑date with the plans for next year’s big event?