Marine Biotechnology is a science still in its infancy, but it holds a huge research and innovation potential as we discover and learn more about marine organisms. Products and applications are highly diverse, spanning food production, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and wider medical applications. Marine Biotechnology needs a combination of many scientific fields and non-scientific fields to succeed, as well as, open knowledge and facilities. At the same time, collective responsible acting for protecting the ocean and its marine environments is necessary and part of the United Nations Sustainable Goal 14 “life below water”.
That is why Ocean4Biotech organized a remotely held hackathon 10-11 July 2021 to define the ingredients of a European Marine Biotechnology Innovation Ecosystem, where scientists and non-scientists may collaborate and provide services for expanding the European Marine Biotechnology sector. This hackathon was a co-creation call that attracted 62 applicants from 20 countries, covering all age groups – from teens to mid-60s. Ocean4Biotech Hackathon covered 4 Innovation Ecosystem challenges:
- Actors,
- Value proposition,
- RRI
- Digitalization
In each topic 4-5 active participants worked for 48 hours non-stop to deliver four execution plans with where and how marine biotechnology solutions can help societal issues such as reducing industrial pollution reaching the ocean; a biorefinery based on fish and shells scrap left over after fishing and consumption in the Mediterranean, making aquaculture pollution free, and how to reduce pollution based on saline based bacteria.
