The Hub Azul Olhão will be dedicated to the promotion of scientific knowledge of excellence and capacity building, in the area of the sea more specifically in areas such as biotechnology, aquaculture and food industry, including new technologies and robotics.

Framed in the innovation objectives of this unit, it is intended to enhance the establishment of companies and / or the creation of new ones (including startups and spin-offs), in a space for incubation and development of businesses, goods and services.

In the Hub Azul Olhão, whose R&D promoter is S2AQUAcoLAB, we estimate a capacity for incubation and installation of 15 companies and a representation of 90 jobs, mainly qualified employment, which will grow and boost the local and regional economy, linked to the sea.

The project aims to rebuild and expand a building located in the port area of Olhão, which has housed since the mid-twentieth century several services of the then IPIMAR, namely between 1984 and 2002, and later the Aquaculture Station, which was at the genesis of the Olhão Pilot Fish Farming Station.

With the relocation of this entity to the Ria Formosa Natural Park at the beginning of the 21st century, the original building became less active, dedicated to IPMA pathology and nutrition tests in partnership with local companies (Sparos). Recently, an office and laboratory area was recovered and is currently being used by S2AQUAcoLAB.

The intervention takes advantage of part of the existing structure, reformulating its interior compartmentalization, according to the new objectives, in order to provide this infrastructure with the technical characteristics that allow it a new contemporary use, capable of housing rooms for researchers and technicians, areas for living marine organisms, various laboratories and areas reserved for companies, both with regard to their technological development and their specific intellectual property.

With the birth of the Hub Azul Olhão, it is intended to further foster the creation of interaction zones between companies, promote their network with science and knowledge centers, and share with universities and training centers. A new network will be born, revitalizing an area that further links the city and the region to the sea. A new HUB will create and encourage knowledge transfer, boosting innovation, blue biotechnology and a new network of synergies.