Economist Impact - World Ocean Summit & Expo
The World Ocean Summit is an annual global event bringing together the widest cross-section of the ocean community from business and finance to governments, national and international policy-makers, civil society and academia. Economist Impact will celebrate the 10th anniversary with the return to a physical event in Lisbon, Portugal, a city (and country) at the forefront of sustainable ocean thinking and practice.
The summit is designed to inspire bold thinking and new partnerships, and to trigger effective action to develop a sustainable ocean economy. It aims to change the way business is done in the ocean.
This year, the summit will steer progress by addressing the greatest challenges facing the ocean: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. High-level policy discussions will continue to be at the heart of plenary sessions. We will retain the focus on marine industries including shipping, fishing, aquaculture, energy and tourism and this year the agenda will feature cross-industry sessions to leverage synergies and encourage cross-sector engagement.
Blue-Cloud at the World Ocean Summit
Blue-Cloud 2026 Project Coordinator Sara Pittonet Gaiarin (Trust-IT Services) joins the event on 27 February at 14:05 WET, as part of the panel "Combining data to unlock better ocean health", moderated by Brian Helmuth (Proteus Ocean Group).
The world has yet to explore the majority of the ocean, learn from it and protect it. Scientific research in the ocean is an expensive proposition, but technology is enabling scientists to collect data in more cost-effective ways. What are these different kinds of ocean data, and how can they be used cohesively? How is technology contributing towards ocean health and tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution?
Moderator: Brian Helmouth, professor, marine and environmental sciences, Northeastern University and chief scientist Proteus Ocean Group
- Ana Oliverar, remote sensing and geospatial data analyst, +ATLANTIC
- Kendra MacDonald, chief executive, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster
- Eleanor Mackay, chief executive and founder, Ellipsis Earth
- Sara Pittonet Gaiarin, project director, Blue-Cloud 2026
- Anya Waite, chief executive and scientific director, Ocean Frontier Institute
Please note that this is an in-person event, with no virtual component.