Rome, October 23 (askanews) – Four days of discussion on the maritime economy. This is the goal of Blue Planet Economy Expoforum, an event organized by Fiera di Roma from October 21 to 24 at the Congress Center with the support of the Lazio Region, Lazio Innova, and the Rome Chamber of Commerce. Institutions, finance, research, and training are the themes of this edition, which takes place concurrently with "Fiumicino in Blu," an initiative of the Consorzio Nautico del Lazio.
The Region, boasting 383 kilometers of coastline and 38 Blue Economy businesses, is at the center of dialogue between governments, universities, and research centers with three clear objectives for the future. We spoke with Roberta Angelilli, Vice President of the Lazio Region: "The Blue Economy is strategic for the Lazio Region, which boasts an extraordinary environmental heritage, over 380 kilometers of coastline and 24 municipalities—22 coastal, including Rome—and two islands, Ponza and Ventotene. As the Lazio Region, we hold the Italian record for the number of businesses.
We have surpassed 38.000 companies working in the Blue Economy, with an added value of 7%. Training is also being promoted, thanks to the work of MAR and the Fondazione ITS Servizi, with Rome's high schools invited to participate in hackathons to devise solutions for environmental protection and sustainable development. The future is upon us, and cutting-edge companies are essential to positioning Italy at the forefront of the international technological arena.
We spoke with Chiara Petrioli, founder & CEO of WSense: "We started in Lazio at the University of Rome La Sapienza, developing in collaboration with top American universities, realizing that we had the ideas on how to develop technologies needed to implement solutions for the underwater domain. We solved the problem of creating, in a challenging environment where you can't even communicate from a submarine without surfacing, the ability to build wireless networks, such as underwater Wi-Fi. This created a previously unavailable ability to transmit information from the seas and oceans, enabling many applications, from critical infrastructure surveillance to environmental monitoring and structural monitoring. One example is the monitoring of the Forana dam in Genoa, currently under construction." The sea is increasingly connected. From underwater infrastructure to construction capabilities, all the way to connections with space, as explained by Luca Vincenzo Maria Salamone, Director General of the Italian Space Agency. The role and connection between sea and space is a historic one, dating back a long time, especially with the launch of satellite programs. However, in recent years in particular, Italy has been playing an important role in this space-sea interconnection, thanks also to the launch of strategic documents, such as the "Primo Piano del Mare," which mentions the word "space" 12 times, and the "Made in Italy" Green Paper, which somehow makes the space-sea interconnection a key element in industrial policies. So, from this perspective, the policies—the strategic documents launched by the government—are very important, as are the recent establishment of the Agency for the Safety of Underwater Activities, and the new 2025 space law. These have also created a regulatory ecosystem that will allow us to work increasingly synergistically in the future. In this regard, the Italian Space Agency is also making its contribution. In 2025, a Space & Blue Task Force was launched and established, with the goal of working with all stakeholders. maritime, rather than space, in order to find synergies and also foster technological integration between the two industrial ecosystems." A comprehensive discussion with the sector's key players, who are calling for greater speed from institutions, as underlined by Comar CEO Andrea Guardigli, and are using a platform like the Blue Planet Economy Expoforum for dialogue. In an increasingly rapidly approaching future, aligning all stakeholders around the Blue Economy could represent a real turning point for the Italian economy.
Askanews