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Type of barrier Specific problems Important for stakeholders?91 (1 = none, 5 = very) Need to carry out high-content, broad-target screening (of active compounds and replication, preventing repeated rediscovery). Separating bioactive compounds/molecules can be time consuming Infrastructure Novel data management platforms and information services needed Lack of analytical platforms by which to process data Sustainability / environmental impact Lack of storage capacity such as databases to accommodate an increasing production of data Limitations to harvesting of marine organisms. Harvest of large amounts of marine organisms can cause harm to the marine environment. Note: Types of barriers in italics will be taken forward in the subsequent stages In addition, some stakeholders have pointed to various other problems such as: - Limited visibility of the sector; - Capacity shortage including suitably trained personnel; - Lack of established Blue Biotechnology value chains. Although we acknowledge these additional problems, our judgment is that these are mostly interlinked with existing problems. An example for this would be the perceived limited visibility of the sector which can be related partly to the lack of cooperation and lack of a common platform for exchange. We have identified the overall problem as being the fact that the EU Blue Biotechnology sector is not living up to its full growth potential. This limited potential is considered due to four general problems and barriers that are particular to the EU Blue Biotechnology sector; 1) Lack of cooperation along the value chain; 2) Limited access to data & knowledge infrastructure; 3) Limited access to finance and; 4) Limited access to resources. Figure 4.1 presents the four general problem areas which have been further specified – at the level of specific problems. 1 Scope for EU action? (1 = none, 5 = yes) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 Study in support of Impact Assessment work on Blue Biotechnology 59

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