With the Atlantic Ocean at our doorstep, and the mighty Chesapeake Bay running through our heart, it’s no wonder Maryland is a leader in innovation, implementation, and manufacturing in advanced technologies related to water, also known as “blue tech.”

The Maryland Department of Commerce is leading a delegation of blue tech companies to European Water Technology Week, taking place in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, Sept. 19-22. Leeuwarden may be known as “The Capital of Water Technology,” but with more than 7,700 miles of coastline—enough to stretch from Baltimore to Leeuwarden and back—the Maryland team will certainly have some new ideas and established principles to share.

And what an opportunity to shine a light on blue tech, one of Maryland’s emerging industries. European Water Technology Week will bring together more than 1,000 participants representing 38 countries, and five Maryland companies will participate in spreading the Maryland message. Blue Sources of Frederick ; GaiaXus from Bethesda ; Innovatreat of Owings Mills ; and Early Charm Ventures  and Tetrahedron, Inc. from Baltimore  represent the diversity of Maryland’s blue tech infrastructure. Learn more about this week's event.

Ranging from off-the-shelf options to bespoke solutions, they provide wide ranging blue tech services including water quality testing, recycling, monitoring, education, security, management and more. Large or small, on the ground or over the web, these leaders can meet your needs. But when it comes to the depth of blue tech resources Maryland has to offer, we’ve barely broken the surface.

Maryland puts ecology first and is a leader in habitat reconstruction, having planted more than 10 billion oysters to rebuild Chesapeake reefs in just the last decade and, with our Chesapeake partners, there’s more than $1 billion set for planned bay restoration. It’s no wonder Maryland is at the forefront of effective, early water quality monitoring and containment capture. And Maryland’s blue tech future extends beyond the bay with plans to build offshore wind farms capable of generating more than 2,000 MW of clean, green energy.

Our world class university systems and community colleges produce leaders in science innovation and highly skilled lab techs making Maryland an amazing place to get an idea off of the ground. With more than 20 established tech incubators and accelerators ready to support the blue tech sector, you can go from an idea to implementation here on the shores of the Chesapeake. And Maryland’s flexible, tech-forward manufacturing base, unbeatable transportation infrastructure, central location in the heart of the American market, and aggressive incentives, mean there’s no better place to build your blue tech future than here in the Old Line State.

When it comes to blue tech, Maryland is all in. Are you ready to take the plunge?