2015 Conference | Our Ocean Wealth

The second annual Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth Conference took place this year on the 10th of July in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork as part of SeaFest 2015.

Building on the very successful 2014 Conference, the 2015 Conference was attended by 500 participants who explored how Ireland can develop its marine economy.

The conference took place in a custom built temporary venue, and delegates had the opportunity to see the state of the art facilities at the National Maritime College of Ireland and the new Beaufort Building which together form the cornerstone of the Irish Maritime and Energy Cluster.

Conference Opening and A New Framework for Marine Development	Presentation/Speech
Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine	Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth Opening Address
Commissioner Karmenu Vella, Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries European Commission	If our oceans are not healthy, our economy will be sick
Darin King, Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture in the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Developments in Marine Spatial Planning In Ireland
Paudie Coffey T.D., Minister of State at the Department of the Environment with Special Responsibility for Housing, Planning and Coordination of the Construction 2020 Strategy;
Sean Sherlock T.D., Minister of State at Department of Foreign Affairs with Special Responsibility for ODA, Trade Promotion and North South co-operation
Blue Growth At Work - Case Studies
Port of Cork - John Mullins, Chairman;	Blue Growth at Work A New Port – A New Economy
IMERC - Valerie Cummins, Director;	Delivering jobs & blue growth through innovation and partnership
Great Lighthouses of Ireland- Yvonne Shields, CEO, Commissioners of Irish Lights (Make white)	Irish Lights - Safety & Navigation
The Future Marine Economy
Barrie Stevens - Head of OECD Futures Group	The Future Of The Ocean Economy: Exploring The Prospects For Emerging Ocean Industries To 2030/50
Invited Panel join the Guest Speaker to reflect on his observations and the morning plenary
Moderator: Peter Heffernan, Chief Executive, Marine Institute
John Bell, Director of the Bio-economy Directorate in DG RTD of the European Commission
Mark Ferguson, Director General, Science Foundation Ireland
Terry D. Garcia, Chief Science and Exploration Officer, National Geographic and Executive Vice President for Mission Programmes for the National Geographic Society
Tara McCarthy, Director of Food and Beverages Division, Bord Bia and CEO Designate of Bord Iascaigh Mhara
Craig McLean, Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, NOAA, USA
Gearoid Mooney, Divison Manager, Research & Innovation, Enterprise Ireland
Cathal O'Donoghue, Head, Rural Economy and Development Program, Teagasc
Food From The Sea
Oyvind Oaland -Global Director Research & Development and Technical, Marine Harvest Group, Norway
Joe Gill -Director of Corporate Broking, Goodbody Stockbrokers, Ireland
Peter Marshall -Chief Executive RS Standards, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Energy from the Ocean and Integrated Marine Capacity
James Tedd -New Projects Manager, ESB	Ocean Energy in Ireland: ESB WestWave Project
Peter Corcoran -Chief Financial Officer, Open Hydro Ltd.	OpenHydro \| Path to Commercialisation
Peter Dice –Director - IOT Group, Intel	Where does IoT fit into Ocean Wealth?
Kevin Whooley -Regional Manager, Woodgroup Kenny	Technology Opportunities in a Challenging Oil & Gas Industry
Marine Enterprise & Business
Adrian Boyle -CEO of Cathx Ocean	Imagine the Future
Barrie O’Connell -President, Cork Chamber of Commerce Brendan Keating CEO, Port of Cork	Benefits of Marine Enterprise and Business to the wider Cork Economy
Darrel Shaw -Principal Consultant and Technical Director, Reverse Engineering Services Ltd
Ian Venner -Partner, Power & Utilities, EY
Ocean Literacy
Susan Heaney -Ocean Exploration Centre Manager, Titanic Centre, Belfast	Driving Ocean Literacy at Titanic Belfast’s Ocean Exploration Centre
John Joyce -Author, Publisher, Cartoonist, Science Communicator	Designing Ocean Literacy Programmes that Work
Neil O’Hagan -Executive Director, Atlantic Youth Trust	Is a youth development tall ship the missing piece of the puzzle?
Sinead McCoy -Coastal Programmes Officer, An Taisce	Protecting our beaches, seas & marine life
Maritime Transport Governance
Opening and Welcome - Deirdre O’Keefe, Head of the Irish Maritime Administration, DTTAS
Opening Session: - Overview of maritime administration in Ireland
Brian Hogan - Chief Surveyor, Marine Survey Officer, DTTAS	Overview of Maritime Administration in Ireland
Nikolaos Katsoulis -Project Officer International Maritime Transport Regulation - European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)
Capt. David Elliott -Superintendent - Shipowner’s Perspective - Arklow Shipping
Mr Ken Fleming -Inspectorate Co-Ordinator Ireland & UK, Seafarer’s Perspective - ITF/SIPTU
Yannis Calogeras -UK Marine Chief Executive, Recognised Organisation (ROs)– Bureau Veritas, BV
Atlantic Action Plan
Welcome and Opening: Maritime Afairs Attaché - Marcella Smyth DG MARE Representative –Cristina Ami-Lopez
Alexandros Chloros (Kantor Qwentes) -Funding and support opportunities for SMEs	Implementing The Atlantic Action Plan – Opportunities For SMEs
Opportunities for Innovative SME’s in horizon 2020 - SME Instrument and fast track to innovation –
Stephen O’Reilly -(Horizon 2020 National Contact Point (NCP) for Innovation in SME’s	Horizon2020 “The SME Instrument” & “Fast Track to Innovation”
Cathal Fitzgerald -Introduction to the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF)	Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF)
SME Case Studies:
Mike Fitzpatrick - Irish Observer Network Ltd (ION)	Participating in H2020 Research projects as an SME
EU funding: Learnings from an Irish SME
Tomas Flanagan -Eire Composites	EU Funding: Learnings from an Irish SME
Paul Mullins -Brandon Products Ltd.	Marine Biotechnology at Work
Afternoon Plenary Session
Opportunities to Marinise, Develop and Strengthen – Actions for the thematic areas Moderators reflect outcomes from each of the parallel sessions
Conference Closing