On 19-20 September 2016 in Gdańsk the Conference & Brokerage Event "Be Smart, Think Blue" took place. The event was organized by the Maritime Institute in Gdansk in the framework of European project Smart Blue Regions (Smart specialisation and blue growth in the Baltic Sea Regions) in cooperation with H2020 National Contact Points in the framework of BioHorizon project (Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy) and ETNA2020 project (Smart, green and integrated transport).

The conference was opened by Marshal of the Pomorskie Region - Mieczysław Struk. During the Conference (19th September) the achievements and development trends in "Blue Smart Regions" were presented and also the mechanisms and sources of financing of projects and investments related to the implementation of smart specialization. The event enjoyed a great interest and focused more than 100 representatives of companies, research institutions and public bodies acting in the maritime sector. Bilateral meetings (20th September) have given opportunity to establish a cooperation and strengthening partnership relations for future research projects in the "Blue Growth" area, among others within the Horizon 2020 program.

This event was the first of planed series of international workshops, organized under the Smart Blue Regions project. The workshops are dedicated to initiating new undertakings, supporting effective implementation of the concept of regional smart specializations, also in international arena.