The Port Authority of the Algeciras Bay (APBA) has renewed the certificate of the R&D&i Management System, which it obtained for the first time in December 2019, and which accredits that the APBA complies with the requirements of the renewed UNE 166002:2021 Standard for research, development and innovation activities in the field of logistics and port operations.
The certification, UNE 166002:2021 “R&D&i Management: R&D&I Management System Requirements”, awarded by AENOR, aims to organise, systematise and permanently improve R&D&I activities and achieve maximum effectiveness and efficiency in research, development and innovation work.
This new version of the standard, published by the Spanish Association for Standardisation (UNE) in 2021, provides extra simplicity and value compared to the previous version, from 2014. Although there are several modifications, the main changes can be summarised in three: first, it establishes a less restrictive definition of R&D&I, based on the concept of the Oslo Manual; second, it proposes an open list of R&D&I management principles, comparable to those of the ISO 56002 Standard, which must be integrated and adapted to the management system; third, it introduces a substantial change concerning R&D&I operational processes.
The renewal reaffirms the APBA’s commitment to R&D&i and the level of quality achieved in recent years in the coordination and systematisation of the innovation processes aimed at achieving excellence and a higher degree of satisfaction of the clients and users of the Port of Algeciras Bay. In addition, it recognises that the organisation continues maintaining a mature, competitive, quality and sustainable R&D&i Management System, which endorses good practices in this field, always committed to continuous improvement and favouring a high level of quality in the innovation actions and projects carried out.
The R&D&i Management System not only aides the APBA to regulate and systematise the key processes from ideation to the execution of projects and transversal initiatives, but it has also enabled the implementation of new procedures that improve aspects such as technological surveillance, knowledge management, open innovation and the implementation of tools to support innovation, which are key to development and growth. All of this, ensuring strategic compliance and the guidelines that characterise the concept of Next Generation Port.
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