The OPIN Annual Symposium

The Symposium will provide an opportunity for OPIN members to network and learn more about the supports available through the project. This will include a workshop on the development and application process for the Collaborative Innovation Groups support offered by the project.

The OPIN Project is a 3-year initiative supported by Interreg North West Europe and the European Research and Development Fund (ERDF). The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland is leading the project supported by Scottish Enterprise, Sirris, West Atlantic Marine Energy Community, Dutch Marine Energy Centre and Fraunhofer IEE. OPIN is a cross-sectoral collaborative network that aims to accelerate the growth of the ocean energy sector and its supply chains across the partner regions of Ireland, the UK, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Germany. 

OPIN encourages collaboration between the ocean energy sector and other sectors, such as oil and gas, automotive, aerospace, ICT, advanced materials, sensors, and manufacturing, in an effort to grow the ocean energy supply-chain. OPIN's also encourages cross-regional collaboration across North West Europe and beyond through a variety of supports. These supports include:

• Annual Symposium to provide networking opportunities for OPIN members
• Workshops and Masterclasses to facilitate knowledge transfer between the partner regions
• Technology Assessment Process (TAPs) Support to allow companies to benchmark their technologies, map structured development paths and identify potential collaborators
• Collaborative Innovation Group (CIGs)  to support clusters of SMEs, working with research entities/large companies, solving issues identified as barriers to the ocean energy sector
• Travel Support enabling SMEs to travel abroad either to take part in an OPIN workshop, masterclass or a Collaborative Innovation Group meeting or activity.

During the Annual Symposium, a workshop will be held on the Collaborative Innovation Group (CIG) support mechanism. As a project, OPIN has identified issues that need to be addressed to advance the ocean energy sector. OPIN will ask potential Collaborative Innovation Group members to engage in a discussion on how these topics specifically affect them and what type of a solution they are looking for. Solution providers will also contribute to the discussion.

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Further information on all upcoming OPIN events can be found here.