1.BlueDigital (BD) is a part of a broader blue innovation puzzle/landscape/ecosystem and does not exist inside a vacuum. As such, BD (and other blue approaches in the digital space) needs to align and support a variety of approaches to traceability, MSMEs in the tourism space and sustainable fisheries.  2. There are a variety of partners in the public, private and tertiary spaces that are interested in emerging blue solutions with emphasis on digital, pointing towards the growth of an enabling environment and culture surrounding digital solutions related to the Blue Economy. This was seen through expression of interest in takeover/adoption of BD among partners in our ecosystem.  3. Interoperability and an open approach to technology is key as many actors in the development sphere are in the process of introducing digital solutions in the Blue Economy. As such, for any of our solutions to be scalable, they must be interoperable with adjacent systems.  4. For digital or other projects that predict needing or wanting a handover partner, it is important to ensure that the handover partner is baked into the design and inception phases from the outset of the development of a solution. This should help ensure a smoother handover process.  5. During and following a pilot, it is difficult to know when an experiment has "closed" or ended, as often there are several loose ends to tie up, as well as aspects that either worked or did not work. As such, there is a need from the Lab network and HQ team for greater learning and guidance on the closure of learning loops and pilots. 

https://www.undp.org/barbados/blog/marrying-old-and-new-through-futures-thinking-blue-economy-perspective https://www.undp.org/barbados/projects/bluedigital

-One key bottleneck we experienced was in designing and actioning on a potential partnership/collaboration with the Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility (CCPF) due to challenges with identifying ways of working together (MOU) as well as permitted forms of funding. This resulted in the Lab not being able to pursue a challenge arrangement/modality with CCPF due to insufficient frameworks for working together. 

-Primarily, the Lab has continuously tried to remain aware of changes, signals, new directions, shifts and opportunity areas in the innovation x Blue Economy x Eastern Caribbean space. This often translates into frequent conversations with stakeholders, monitoring/attending relevant events, staying abreast of emerging blue offerings for beneficiaries and reading/digesting essential literature. As well, informal conversation and chatter helps keep the Lab informed of white spaces and early stage innovation research questions. 

-Most notably, the Lab has focused on future analysis and foresight in relation to its frontier challenge. This is due to the reality that BD is future and behavior change-focused, requiring beneficiaries and stakeholders to make changes in order to create and effect an emerging future. Given this, it has been important for the Lab to anticipate emerging futures related to how fisherfolk and tourism operators might operate in 5-10, all with emphasis on sustainability and digital transformation. 

-Through a consultancy, the Lab worked with an international non-profit organization on a sustainable tourism verification system assessing the sustainability efforts of tourism-sector MSMEs (hotels & restaurants) related to plastic, responsible fish and seafood, waste, procurement and other categories. This resulted in the commencement of sustainability verifications for 5 MSMEs in Barbados and 5 MSMEs in Dominica, all with the aim of recognizing environmentally conscious activities while encouraging greater sustainability practices among tourists. 

N/A

1. Through a consultancy, the Lab worked with an ICT expert on testing, analyzing and troubleshooting the BD system. This included the seeding and application of "dummy data" in order to simulate a fully operational BD system. Via this work, this private sector collaborator expressed interest in the handover/takeover of BD as the work confirmed that the app and website hold strong potential for adoption and application in the Eastern Caribbean Blue Economy.  2. Through a consultancy, the Lab worked with a vessel monitoring and data analytics firm on piloting solar-powered fish vessel monitoring devices on five boats in Barbados, resulting in the digitization of fish vessel tracks and catch effort patterns. 

-Through a consultancy, the Lab worked with members of the Fisheries Division on the piloting of solar-powered fish vessel monitoring devices on five boats in Barbados, resulting in the digitization of fish vessel tracks and catch effort patterns. This enabled the Lab to further explore the traceability universe and collect results on new approaches such as digitized fish vessel monitoring that are being adopted by government. 

-Primarily, our partners in the private sector were the most new and unusual as we have not worked with them before, all brought diverse/emerging skills sets and all are trialing new approaches to persistent problems. What made them special was their testing, piloting and launching of novel methods (i.e.: data analytics, automatic identification systems) in the Blue Economy. 

-The Lab has continued to leverage its work, relationships and partnerships with the UNDP Tech Cell in Serbia, the UNDP SSECC cluster in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, the Acc Lab SIDS network and the RBLAC regional Hub. 

-This unique interplay, particularly with the private sector for this action plan, allowed us to develop stronger relationships with unusual actors which continues to help us trial new methods with the goal of surfacing relevant value propositions. This in turn helps the Lab to expand its suite of innovation tools, approaches and partners.