The Limassol Municipality Centre for Innovation and Blue Economy has embarked on its strategic planning, aiming to give further impetus to the development of digitization and innovation in Blue Development. Mayor Nicos Nicolaides told "Entrepreneurial Limassol" that the Administrative and Advisory Committee of the Centre met recently to finalize the strategic plan and the next actions that the Centre will promote, for the Blue Economy and Shipping, in combination with the program of the 100 Climate Neutral Cities of the EU, which includes Limassol.
Nicos Nicolaides described the center as a pioneer and at the same time necessary for Limassol, which hosts over 200 companies that provide shipping services, has a multipurpose port, a modern marina, and a large tourism industry. The Innovation Centre is housed in municipal buildings at Franklin Roosevelt Avenue and operates in collaboration with the Limassol-based universities of Limassol (Cyprus University of Technology and Frederick), the Deputy Ministry of Shipping, the Research and Innovation Foundation, as well as other organizations and institutions, such as the Sea Foundation (CY-FOS), the Shipping Agents Association, Agents, the Cyprus Shipping and the Limassol Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
The mission of the Center is to support young entrepreneurship and the development of start-up ideas for technologies, products and services related to the Blue Economy. As the Mayor explained, through a mentoring process, the submitted ideas will mature to the point where they will be ready for practical application. The center has a permanent secretarial staff, Director, Marianna Charalambous and Scientific Associate, Dr. Alexandros Charalambides, from the Cyprus University of Technology.
As the Mayor of Limassol told us, thanks to a significant sponsorship secured by Royal Caribbean, a Virtual Educational Center will be installed in the Centre, which was acquired through a bidding process and is now under construction. This "tool" will be aimed at children, from elementary to high school, to whom it will provide an "amazing" experience, according to Mr. Nicolaides, in matters related to the protection and technologies of the sea. The Innovation and Blue Economy Centre was co-financed by the EU and, as the Mayor told us, its inauguration will take place at the end of January or the beginning of February.
