“From Barcelona we want to change things and reach the world.” The technical director of the BCN Port Innovation Foundation, Miquel de la Mano, this Friday at the Caixa Fòrum auditorium in Barcelona, a few meters from the Saló de la Logística. The public-private foundationannounced a year ago by the Port of Barcelona and constituted this week, intends speed up the projects of innovation linked to infrastructure.
De la Mano has stated that the entity was born as a tool to boost processes, projects and ideas “that have a degree of uncertainty and help accelerate a more efficient consumption model”, he described. “We are a private foundation and we want to consolidate a innovation hub where things happen The way we want to interact with the port system is with collaboration to promote sustainable development with motors such as the intelligence and innovation”.
From 5,000 to 25,000 euros of contribution
The president of the Port, Lluis Salvadothe institution that promotes the project, has highlighted that public-private collaboration is not something new for the institution. Ackcent, Aggity and Energy Factor will be the three companies considered main ‘partners’, who will contribute €25,000 each. The rest of the signatures until arriving at 18 that form the foundation, will put 5,000 euros.
However, Salvadó has insisted on a call to the entire port community: “It is an important event for the port and we want it to be so for the 500 companies and 38,221 people who work at their facilities, we want to irradiate them with innovation,” he stated.
Agility Quest
“We are very good, but we need to be more agile. The foundation must infect us with the speed To do the things. If something has Barcelona is the innovative character and a wide range of ‘startups’, with 2,000 in the city, which should now also get involved in our logistics and port sector“, has invited the head of the port authority.
“We are not going to discover the wheel, we can be at any stage of the projects, we want to be a catalyst for what is happening,” he continued. hand in hand has revealed that, for a few months, the foundation is already working on two pilot projectsone linked to the container terminal of Hutchison Ports Best, which consists of automated stamp scanning with artificial intelligence and computer vision. The other, from Grimaldi and Goclever, is a tool that understands what you transport in seconds.
Up to 30 partners
Logistics, mobility and sustainability will be the three legs on which the projects are based, in which at the moment there are 18 companies involved, with the intention to reach 30. Although it was initially thought that BCN Port Innovation would be in the sheds of Sant Bertranlinking it to the blue economy initiatives, Lluís Salvadó has revealed that they will be different projects, although they are linked to each other.
Before the explanations of technical director of the foundation and the president of the port himself, a round table between three experts in digitization, a vector called precisely to transform the sector and that will probably be common in all the projects that it promotes BCN Port Innovation.
Round table on transformation
The executive director of the company Red Points, Laura Urquizu, has assured that the change from 3G to 4G has been the most transgressive moment in recent years. The entrepreneur and creator of Liquid Lab VenturesAleix Valls, has also added that the connectivity It has been what has transformed our society the most, but also artificial intelligence, “which has been with us for a long time but the generative is the one that has brought about an explosion& rdquor ;. Valls has explained that the adoption curve It has been the highest in history.
The executive director of attitudeLluís Soldevila, has affirmed that the fear of technology and many companies “are not afraid to test and improve.” Adoption, the “enter to play & rdquor; It has been the most relevant, according to the speaker.
In it debate on artificial intelligence, Urquizu has opined that the difference with respect to what has happened in the last decade is that now the population is much more aware of this tool. “Those who oppose or deny it will have a hard time: they would have to use it, it will not eat us,” he opined.
“Be smarter than we are”
Valls has joined this idea, adding that it will allow us to be “smarter than we are”. soldevila He also recalled that at other times in history, such as with Internet, fear makes corporations make decisions like trying to stop it. “Artificial intelligence is not going to kill anyone, but it will kill those who don’t use it,” the Esade professor, who is also a professor, has ruled.
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Valls has taken the opportunity to make an analysis on the digital transformation that some sectors have endured, such as the hotel industry. He cited the case of booking, which has been left with a large percentage of hotel reservations in the world thanks to its strategy “without having made a bed in his life or having served a croissant & rdquor; and has addressed the auditorium to ask them if the port and logistics world Do you want to face this transformation on your own or prefer to wait “for the Booking of the ports to arrive& rdquor ;.
The simple fact of establishing the BCN Port Innovation already answers the question: the sector prefers to lead this transformation.