Linking Workforce, Innovation, and Investment: The Blue Economy and Beyond

Panelists

Mr. Bruno Freitas
Principal, Lewis-Burke Associates

Dr. Eric Hines
Professor of the Practice, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Kentaro Tsutsumi Faculty Fellow, Tufts University 

Dr. Anthony Kirincich
Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Moderator: Dr. Barbara Kates-Garnick
Professor of the Practice, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Session Overview

New England’s connection to its coast plays a vital role in the United States’s global leadership in research, high-skilled employment, and innovation. By integrating New England's advanced technology, skilled workforce, and manufacturing capabilities within the blue and green economies—and aligning these assets with key sectors such as defense and energy—the region can attract greater public and private investment into blue and green-based industries. This panel highlighted examples of how the region can leverage its distinctive resources to grow investment, while also exploring opportunities to expand cross-sector partnerships that will propel the blue and green economies forward.

Key Discussion Points

One of the most important factors that sets New England apart from other regions — and binds its communities together — is its deep connection to the coast through the emerging blue and green economies. Yet, according to Dr. Barbara Kates-Garnick, Professor of the Practice at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, the region has yet to master the transition from research and prototyping to full-scale commercialization. While New England excels at generating scientific breakthroughs and early-stage innovation, she argued that the next critical challenge is building stronger pathways to industry. The question is no longer whether New England can innovate — but whether it can industrialize those innovations at scale.

A key component in closing this commercialization gap, she emphasized, will be sustained federal support. Bruno Freitas, Principal at Lewis-Burke Associates, acknowledged the difficulty of addressing current federal dynamics without venturing into partisanship. Regardless of political affiliation, however, the reality in Washington is one of significant uncertainty. Massive budget cuts, downsizing, and restructuring of the federal scientific establishment have cast doubt on the future shape of public R&D support. In such an environment, Mr. Freitas advised focusing on what is certain. One clear trend is the coming surge in U.S. energy demand — driven in large part by electrification and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. Data centers alone currently consume 4 percent of U.S. electricity; within five years, that share is projected to triple.

This explosive growth in demand, regardless of which party holds power, will necessitate an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy. Mr. Freitas urged stakeholders to use this moment as an opportunity to grow the blue and green economies. He pointed to the Energy Act of 2000 — which included funding for an ocean energy testbed he helped advocate — as a model. The ocean, he argued, remains an underutilized but essential energy resource. Renewable energy deployment is not a matter of if, but when. However, influencing federal policy is slow work, akin to turning an aircraft carrier: progress is made incrementally, not all at once.

Still, government is only one pillar of a three-legged stool supporting the blue and green economies—alongside academia and industry. Each of these sectors faces unique challenges. Universities must meet the needs of both faculty and students. Industry will not adopt new technologies unless there is a viable business case. And government action is ultimately responsive to voters. At the heart of all three challenges is communication — convincing each stakeholder that new technologies are worth their time, trust, and resources. Without alignment across all three sectors, the blue and green economies cannot achieve their full potential.

Dr. Eric Hines, Professor of the Practice in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Tufts University, brought a practitioner's perspective to this challenge. He recounted his efforts to brief policymakers in Washington on offshore wind well before the sector gained traction in the United States. His early advocacy helped secure funding through post-2008 economic recovery legislation, enabling the transformation of the Massachusetts Wind Technology Testing Center from a modest operation into the world’s largest wind testing facility. Similarly, the Marine Commerce Terminal in New Bedford was designed with the future of offshore wind in mind, built using cutting-edge underwater mapping technology to support construction logistics.

However, Dr. Hines cautioned that technological innovation alone is insufficient. Its legitimacy must be recognized by financial institutions and legal systems. During the Terminal’s construction, a dispute over the presence of boulders led to litigation. Despite the availability of advanced data, a court dismissed the information as inadmissible, resulting in a ruling against the project team. Without standards and certifications that affirm the reliability of new technologies, their credibility — and thus their adoption — can be undermined.

Dr. Anthony Kirincich, Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has worked extensively to address that very challenge: validating ocean-based technologies. He leads a long-running project that monitors wind speeds at the sites of future offshore wind farms, providing a high-confidence data stream that improves the predictability of project returns. Yet collecting data “beyond repute” requires rigorous documentation and validation — an effort complicated by differing expectations between academia and industry. Still, his project, active since 2016, has generated the world’s longest continuous offshore wind dataset. When European researchers questioned the open-source data, Dr. Kirincich was able to defend its accuracy and methodology.

But data quality is only one piece of the puzzle. Equally important is establishing shared standards — such as how to monitor whale activity near wind sites. Ocean testbeds, he argued, allow scientists and industry leaders to co-develop these standards and ensure their applicability across the sector.

Expanding on the need for connectivity between research and application, Dr. Kates-Garnick raised a critical point: what does all this mean for the next generation of innovation workers, particularly those in skilled trades who help move technologies from lab to market? Dr. Kirincich noted that many advanced-degree students no longer see academia as their desired career path. Instead, institutions must forge deeper partnerships with industry to identify new roles for these highly trained individuals — particularly roles requiring skilled hands and practical knowledge. He described a Department of Energy project he led that deployed wind-monitoring equipment on tugboats to improve forecasting. By the project’s end, the captains of those vessels had become not only collaborators but co-contributors to the scientific effort.

When asked about the outlook for offshore wind in New England, Dr. Hines acknowledged current headwinds. Still, he emphasized that $30 billion worth of offshore wind development — totaling 6,000 megawatts — is already being built, supported by the strong partnerships forged across the region. Mr. Freitas agreed, stressing that perseverance during difficult periods would position New England to capitalize when conditions improve. At present, the region is still reliant on European expertise, as Europe entered the offshore wind market earlier. But with the right investments, infrastructure, and workforce, New England can successfully nearshore those capabilities.

Dr. Kirincich concurred, asserting that by leveraging the region’s strengths in research, testing, and prototyping, New England is uniquely positioned to become the most competitive environment for offshore wind development in the world.