The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) participated in the ninth edition of the Smart Digital Ports of the Future event, organized by Port Technology International, held on November 12 and 13 at the Amsterdam Convention Center.
The event brought together representatives from the world’s leading ports and major companies in the maritime-port sector. Over two days, various roundtables and discussion panels were held in which success stories of innovation and technological development in pioneering ports were shared, with the aim of inspiring the entire maritime-port ecosystem in terms of innovation and digital transformation.
On behalf of the APBA, Salvador León, Head of the Digital Transformation and Innovation Division, participated in the panel titled “The Proactive Approach to Resiliency: How Ports Can Be Prepared for the Unprecedented”, held on Thursday, November 13. Moderated by Marcel Lindemann, co-founder of Passify, the panel brought together internationally renowned experts such as Nico de Cauwer, Secretary General of IPCSA, and Kamran Ul Haq, Senior Vice President and Global Director of Port Advisory at Lloyd’s Register.
Salvador León’s intervention highlighted APBA’s operational resilience to face unprecedented disruptions, taking as reference the blackout that affected Spain and Portugal in April 2025. During the incident, which lasted between 4 and 20 hours depending on the geographic area, APBA immediately activated, once the scope of the incident was known, a Crisis Committee to assess the situation and ensure operational continuity. Thanks to the robustness and resilience of the port’s infrastructure, all critical services were able to remain operational during the event, including the Port Management System (PMS), the PCS system, the Video Surveillance System, Maritime Terminal activity, Access Management, etc. Likewise, operational challenges were identified and resolved during the crisis, such as securing fuel supply for generator sets through alternative sources given the non-operability of conventional gas stations.
During the session, discussion focused on how ports can identify their weak points and deploy new processes, improvements, and technological investments to strengthen operational resilience in the face of an uncertain future. Real examples were discussed regarding the impact of unprecedented disruptions on port operations, the identification of vulnerable parts of the operation, the implementation of technologies that improve visibility and operational agility, the adaptability of port infrastructure for the future, and collaboration between stakeholders to increase supply chain resilience.
In this edition, the critical topics and areas of interest defined for the event were digital decarbonization, resilience and agility, Port Community Systems (PCS), as well as the application of digital tools in supply chains, and the current state of digital transformation in the industry.
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