The e-AQUA Steering Commitee held the second meeting of the project to show the progress in the development of the activities.

To this meeting attended Mr. Ramon Basanta and Mr Diego Nieto, from Galicia e-Commerce Leveraging Centre, as well as representatives from CETMAR and Atos Origin from Spain and other organizations from the other regions involved in the project: Ireland, Scotland (Great Britain) and Brittany (France).

During the meeting, the Steering Committee members discussed different issues related to Management, Observatory, Training, Dissemination and the future action plan.

The project consists of Analysis penetration of ICT and promotion of e-commerce within the SMEs belonging to the aquaculture strategic sector of the Atlantic area.

The project will be developed according to the following three coordinated steps:

1- Observatory: Analysis of ICT penetration and usage in the aquaculture sector of the Atlantic area. On this first stage, a research about the current status and possibilities of developing e-commerce in the Atlantic aquaculture sector will be developed. The aim is to gain reliable knowledge of the degree to which Internet and e-commerce have been deployed by SMEs and are operative in the participating Atlantic regions.

2- Training: According to the outcome of the previous research, structured training courses and/or seminars will be organised. Depending on the research results of the first step, course programs will be specifically adapted to satisfy the current aquaculture SMEs requirements with regards to e-commerce and main ICT issues.

3-ICT Consultancy: Feasibility assessment for the implementation of e-commerce in a precise number of Atlantic regional SMEs.