The Port of Algeciras Bay Authority together with the Innovation Office (IDOM) hosted our first Open Innovation Day in the Millan Picazo Auditorium during last May. The conference was focused on Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Ports 4.0 and welcomed more than 120 guests in our aim to use this as a meeting point for our Port Community and all the other players in the innovation ecosystem (businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, spin-offs and other individuals).
The conference began with a welcome speech made by our Chairman Mr. Gerardo Landaluce who highlighted the importance of innovation for our port, stating that it was a key initiative to creating wealth of a high added-value nature that would enable our port to stay competitive in the long term.
Following our Chairman, Mr. Francisco De los Santos (APBAs CIO), Mr. Jesus Medina (APBAs Innovation Manager) and Mr. Francisco Jose Fernandez (partner of the Cremades & Calvo Sotelo company) made a joint presentation to inform the audience about the Port of Algeciras Bays innovation strategy and digital transformation that included details about the main challenges we face and the various co-working options on offer.
After the brief coffee break, which our audience made use of to network with our guests, Mr. Jose Llorca (Managing Director of the State Ports Innovation Department) and Mr. Joaquin Martinez (Head of the Technical Office that would support our programme) presented the Ports 4.0 Fund Entrepreneurial Drive Plan together. This is a governmental scheme that all the Spanish Port Authorities are involved in and is supervised by the State Ports Department. It has a 20-to-25-million budget and aims to encourage entrepreneurs to take part in open innovation and streamline the development of ideas and projects in the port-logistics sector.
One of the most-awaited moments of our conference was the last set of presentations: six start-ups (Alen Space, Bound4blue, Carto, Mitmynid, Vestigia and Witrac) involved in the 4.0 logistics and transport sector economic pillars were finally able to announce their novel proposals and solutions for the port-logistics sector and , in particular, for our port.
The conference concluded with a networking cocktail break for all our guests.
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