The deadline for submitting projects to the innovation fund “Ports 4.0” ended in October. It is an initiative by the 28 Spanish ports, and it is integrated in the Spanish Ministry of Transport’s Innovation Plan for Transport and Infrastructures.
Under this plan to promote entrepreneurship for innovation in the port industry, Ports 4.0 will allocate 12 million euros to finance the development of technology solutions to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in said industry.
During the proposal submission period, which began in July through its public announcement in the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE), APBA has received and assessed 64 applications, 7 of which referring to ideas and 57 to projects, both in pre-commercial and commercial stages. As a result, the Port of Algeciras has been able to attract the interest of national and international companies and start-ups, and so to reinforce its status of international Port Living Lab.
After a thorough assessment by the organisation, 48 applications (6 ideas and 42 projects) have been chosen. APBA is committed to actively support 24 initiatives receiving funds.
A study has been carried out to ensure all the proposals are aligned with the innovation approach defined for the Port of Algeciras: Port operations and logistic integration (58%), environmental sustainability and energy efficiency (16%), and port security and protection (14%). The main technology options to develop these ideas and projects are based on Advanced Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Sensorisation (33%), and IoT and new-generation Communications (26%). Lastly, the origin of proposals is predominantly national (89%, as opposed to 11% of international initiatives).
The stage of assessment and final selection of proposals begins from this moment. A deadline of 6 months is set to complete this stage, starting at the time of public announcement of the call. This means that news are to be expected during the first quarter of the new year.
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