The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) hosted, last Friday 21 April in the Port of Algeciras, the Conference “Agora: Digitalization, blue economy and smart ports”, within the framework of the Telefónica Chair of the University of Cadiz (UCA).
The meeting, held in the Millán Picazo Auditorium, is part of the activities of the UCA-Telefónica Chair, which serves as a space for debate, reflection and research on digital transformation, innovation and new technologies. Specifically, the event was aimed at students and university personnel, as well as emerging companies and economic and social agents of the province; and was articulated around three agoras, in which different specialists shared their experiences on digitisation, blue economy and smart ports.
The opening ceremony was chaired by Francisco Piniella, Rector of the UCA, Gerardo Landaluce, President of the APBA, Joaquín Segovia, Southern Territorial Director of Telefónica Spain, and José Carlos Palomares, Director of the UCA-Telefónica Chair. Landaluce highlighted the role of the Port of Algeciras as an international reference in terms of innovation, from where it is committed “to teamwork and collaborative logistics that have led the port to achieve the title of the most efficient in Europe, according to the World Bank report“. Likewise, the president of the APBA himself, highlighted the numerous lines of work carried out by the organisation in favour of the creation of a digital quarry for the port ecosystem, mainly around the recently created initiative Algeciras Port Digital Academy.
Then, the programme continued with the next agora, entitled “Innovation and new technologies in smart ports“, with the participation of María del Mar Cerbán, vice-rector of the Campus Bahía de Algeciras, José Antonio González, head of Digital Transformation South of Telefónica Spain, Ignacio Moldes, director of the Innovation and Change Management Laboratory of Bernardino Abad, and with the head of the Technological Development Area of the APBA, Jesús Medina.
During the course of the same, Medina highlighted the main lines and actions that the Port of Algeciras is carrying out to become a smart port, strengthening the concept of Next Generation Port of Algeciras. From the development of a digital platform for the orchestration of port operations, to the understanding of innovation as a key business process, systematic and integrated in the organisation. He also reviewed some of the innovative projects of present and future, among which are the development of an intelligent tool for the detection of queues and calculation of waiting times at terminal accesses, the development of a predictive and prescriptive platform for the optimisation of decision-making in operational management or the development of the PROAS project (Port Risk Optimized Advanced System), which aims to implement a predictive tool for the safety and efficiency of port operations based on the conditions of the physical environment.
The event ended with a guided tour by experts from the Port Authority of the Algeciras Bay, to experience the practical application of new technologies and digitalisation in the Port of Algeciras, and to learn first hand about the future challenges of the port.
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