A panel discussion on building Alaska’s blue economy is among dozens of sessions offered tomorrow, Thursday, at the Oceans ’17 conference in Anchorage, Alaska, hosted by the Marine Technology Society and the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society.
The application and commercialization of technology in marine science and oceanography is one of the fastest growing sectors of the global blue economy. Panelists will explore the challenges and opportunities for building Alaska’s blue economy.
The session, beginning at 1:30 p.m., will be chaired by Joel Cladoulos, director of the Alaska Ocean Cluster Initiative, and moderated by Bradley Moran, dean of the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The Alaska Ocean Cluster Initiative, a program of the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association, is looking at opportunities for development of feasible ocean related products and services to be produced in Alaska.
There are more than 50 blue economy initiatives going on right now worldwide, but to date only five percent of oceans have been explored, Cladoulos said. “Right now we know more about the surface of the moon than the sea floor,” he said.
Panel members include Michael B. Jones, president of the Maritime Alliance; Molly McCammon, executive director of the Alaska Ocean Observing System; Rear Admiral Jonathan W. White, US Navy retired, president of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership; and Al Eisian, chief operating officer and founder of IntelinAir. Inc.
The theme of the international gathering, being held for the first time in Alaska, is “Our Harsh and Fragile Ocean,” or “How to protect the fragile from the harsh with application of modern technology and traditional knowledge working together.”
Also on the agenda is another panel, scheduled at the same time, on unmanned air systems for maritime operations. Panelists in this session will discuss the challenges, opportunities and potential synergies of new unmanned air system capabilities that will allow concepts of operation, which could have not been imagined before and will post new organizational and legal challenges.
The conference complete list of speakers and a schedule showing all technical discussions, is posted online at http://program.oceans17mtsieeeanchorage.org/glance.cfm