Inside the ASC

 

​One new addition to the conference this year was the project marketplace, where representatives from several important marine projects and initiatives got together to present and discuss areas of shared interest between themselves and ICES. Are there mutual goals between the projects and ICES? How can the ICES scientific encyclopaedia best be deployed? What, in turn, can output from the projects bring to ICES?

Opened by Sigi Grueber, head of the Marine Resources Unit at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Development, the nine participants went into a discussion about how they could work together and find ties. There was definite interest in this new session, despite the fact that a large initial crowd began to lose members as attention was drawn towards the simultaneous poster session. Despite the freshness of the idea and the success of just getting the relevant people into one room, I think the session should veer away from the panel-and-audience style set up of the rest of the sessions. 'Marketplace' suggests something more dynamic after all. Maybe something to reflect that?

​So what was learned? Well ICES is already, and could additionally be, involved in much on the project front. Data was high on the agenda. ICES hosts loads of it, and there are always ways being looked at to make it more available and open. Much was said about ICES as a science-policy interface and its role as a potential meeting place. Also, the organization can lend its expertise to research and innovation agendas as well as co-sponsor project events and conferences.

You can read a bit more about ICES involvement with projects here.