BARCELONA NOVEMBER 2017

CHAINPORT ACADEMY UNDERLINES THE IMPORTANCE
OF PORTS WORKING TOGETHER ON INNOVATION

The second edition of the ChainPORT Academy, titled ‘Innovation for the ports of the future. Cruise, sustainability and IT’, was held at the Port of Barcelona. The meeting, held between 15 and 17 November, brought together representatives from the ports of Antwerp (Belgium), Felixstowe (United Kingdom), Gdynia (Poland), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Los Angeles (USA), Montreal (Canada), Busan (Korea), Persero (Indonesia), Hamburg (Germany) and Barcelona.

The ChainPORT Academy is a seminar organized by the international network of smart ports, called chainPORT, developed by the Global Institute of Logistics and led by the Port of Hamburg and Los Angeles and comprises some of the world’s most important ports. chainPORT offers the managers of the participating ports a framework for exchanging knowledge and advanced training, as well as access to an international and multidisciplinary network of professionals.

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This second ChainPORT Academy, officially opened by Sixte Cambra, Port of Barcelona President, and Santiago Garcia-Milà, Deputy General Manager of Strategy and Commercial, was structured into three thematic days: Innovation & Environment, Smart Port, and Cruises. The format of this event, which combines presentations by the participants with talks from international experts, colloquies, practical sessions and visits to port facilities, facilitates open and direct debate among the participants. One of the main values of the conference is the opportunity it provides for technical experts and managers of the various ports of the world to provide their respective solutions to the similar challenges and problems raised.

chainPORT representatives will meet both virtually and in person throughout 2017. The next meeting will take place at The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) worldwide conference in Indonesia in May. Port of Los Angeles will host the Annual Meeting of chainPORT in November.

Adapting ports to economic and social change

The first day revolved around Innovation and the Environment, which included a keynote speech by Peter de Langen, a specialist in transport and international logistics, as well as the participation of Carles Rua, head of Strategic Projects and Innovation at the Port of Barcelona; Jordi Vila, head of Environment; and Sergi Sauri, consultant in transport and logistics. This first day involved debates on the role of ports in an increasingly globalized economy as well as that of port authorities as catalysts of innovation, especially among the companies of their port communities.

The second debate of this day focused on Sustainability and involved the presentation of various environmental policies being rolled out by the ports of Los Angeles, Montreal, Felixstowe and Barcelona and also included a visit to the Enagas facilities at the Port of Barcelona. The second day of the ChainPORT Academy, dedicated to the Smart Port, included presentations and practical sessions on the latest developments in smart ports, with a presentation on the experience of the ports of Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Barcelona in this area. This day, which was attended by Joel Curado, head of Strategy and Innovation at CISCO; Javier Gallardo, General Manager at PortIC; Catalina Grimalt, deputy Manager of Organisation and Internal Resources at the Port of Barcelona; and Enric Rodellas, Port Plan manager, included a visit to the BEST container terminal.

During the third day, which took place today with the participation of Mar Pérez, Head of Cruises at the Port of Barcelona, the representatives of the ports of Busan, Gdynia and Persero presented their respective development projects. The programme, which included a visit to a cruise terminal on Adossat Wharf, concluded with a debate on the main challenges in innovation and smart port facing ports over the coming years.

Finally, it was announced that the next ChainPORT Academy will be held in Montreal on 5 and 6 September 2018.

About chainPORT

chainPORT has been developed in response to the changing economic and ecological landscape facing the maritime sector, including economic shocks impacting trade volumes, challenges posed by mega vessels, the emergence of IT megatrends and more stringent environmental standards.

Port authorities in their position as ‘trusted and honest brokers’ are being increasingly relied upon by cargo owners, shipping lines, and modal operators to perform the function of coordinators and communicators in support of supply chain optimization. This development is being driven by cargo owner’s interests and expectations for door-to-door rather than traditional port-to-port solutions.

Locally, port authorities are responding to this demand by leveraging their position to develop port community systems, which gather, collate and share data from the various stakeholder groups within their ports to aid better coordination, communication, and control around cargo flow. Data is shared with appropriate parties on a need to know basis (without commercial infringement) in the best interest of the local supply chain.

chainPORT partners are committed to leveraging the latest developments in technology to realize their vision of a smart, interconnected and digital world port system. The initiative brings together like-minded port professionals to share with, learn from and benchmark with each other their respective experiences in their newfound role of supply chain optimizers.