Summary
Purpose of the award
The APBA has been working for some time on what it calls the “Innovation Journey“, an initiative that aims to promote an innovative culture and create an innovative environment where its workers and collaborators can carry out innovative initiatives and ideas for the benefit of the competitiveness of the Port of Algeciras Bay.
Along these lines, an incentive programme has been developed to reward the creativity of its workers and their involvement in the future of the Port, contributing their own ideas which can only arise from daily contact with the business and users/customers.
For this reason, the first edition of the Innovation Journey Contest was launched, whose ultimate purpose was to recognise creativity and talent and to encourage the generation of innovative ideas and initiatives by APBA employees and direct collaborators.
In short, the aim was for intra-entrepreneurs to find in the APBA the impetus to scale their ideas and projects and, on the other hand, to find solutions that would contribute to the Port’s digital transformation and innovation process.
Innovative ideas alignment
The scope of application of the proposals had to be related to the port-logistic and maritime activity that takes place in the Port of Algeciras Bay and be aligned with one of the innovation focuses defined by the APBA in its strategy:
- 1. Port operations and logistics’ integration
- 2. Environmental sustainability and energy efficiency
- 3. Resilience, safety and port protection
- 4. Management and innovation culture
- 5. Excelence in coporate governance
Participation and ideas assessment
During the 7 months that the competition was open, a total of 41 ideas were received, the majority of which (93%) were oriented towards three of the five innovation focuses: excellence in corporate management (44%), port operations and logistics integration (27%) and environmental sustainability and energy efficiency (22%).
In addition, 90% of the proposals received were encompassed in 4 general innovation objectives: improving the image and communication of the APBA, improving competitiveness in port operations, improving efficiency in corporate management and minimising environmental impact.
Of the 41 ideas, 17 passed all phases of the evaluation process. A process based on the stage-gate idea management methodology and consisting of 2 control gates, where, among other characteristics, the strategic fit of the ideas, the expected socio-economic impact, the technical feasibility of the solution and the degree of novelty were assessed.
Shortlisted proposals
Finally, after the assessment of the total proposals, the 5 short-listed ones were:
- “Authorisations 2.0”, which proposed the implementation of a digital system to manage authorisations and reports managed by the Land Operations Department through the use of QR codes and digital signatures.
- “Bunkerblock“, whose objective is the application of Blockchain technology in the management process of bunkering operations to improve the quality and reliability of the service.
- “Heavy Traffic Assistance App”, an idea that aims to create a new communication channel with the carrier accessing the Port of Algeciras and thus provide useful information such as, for example, the opening hours of the boarding areas, alerts related to operations, appointments with the PIF, location of parking areas, etc. in a simple way.
- “Operational Excellence Heat Map”, focused on developing a new tool for visualising the degree of efficiency and use of port resources by means of interactive maps.
- “Digital Room Management System”, the main objective of which is the application of a digital tool to facilitate the process of managing the booking of APBA meeting rooms and their use.
The 3 award-winners
- First prize: Paco Saucedo, for the proposal “Bunkerblock”.
- Second prize: Jorge Lopera, for the proposal “Heavy Traffic Assistance App”.
- Third prize: Daniel Andrades, for the proposal “Digital Room Management System”.
Associated contest documentation
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