The Port of Tarragona brings together experts from all over Spain for the first conference on smart ports

Some seventy people attended the first "Smart Digital Port" conference organised by the Tarragona Smart Mediterranean City Foundation in collaboration with the Port of Tarragona, State Ports and Repsol. The event, which was professional in nature, introduced various initiatives that ports develop from a smart point of view, whether at the organisational, environmental or technological level. The conference was opened by the mayor of Tarragona, Josep Felix Ballesteros, the chairman of State Ports, José Llorca, and the chairman of the Port of Tarragona, Josep Andreu.

As for the speakers, Miguel Angel Pesquera, tenured Professor of Transport at the University of Cantabria Higher Technical School of Civil Engineering, talked about the need for ports to evolve towards smart digital ports, not only by applying new technologies, but also by changing their governance, which should be more collaborative and less competitive. The subsequent round table on Smart Ports was led by Rubén Marín Gallego, director general of the Avilés Port Authority, and Juan Diego Pérez Freire, director general of the A Coruña Port Authority. The talk given by the former dealt with smart applications in small ports, like the one he directs; ports that were lagging behind technologically a few years ago, and that, thanks to the commitment to smart technology, have gained in competitiveness. The presentation by Pérez Freire dealt with the internal social network of the Port of A Coruña, with a unique environment for all employees and with a very important flow of information about the institution and its activities.

Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio, director general of Huelva Port Authority, and Joan Basora, Tarragona Port Authority’s director of corporate development and sustainability, were the guest speakers at the round table on Green Ports. The former talked about how technology helps in the daily management of a port (that of Huelva) which is highly complex geographically, as it is located on a 15km long estuary, all with special emphasis on care for the natural environment. For his part, Basora explained the incentives that have been put into practice in Tarragona to turn the port into a smart port, and focused his speech on four aspects: the environment, innovation, communication and, above all, the human factor and the need to raise awareness among employees.

The last round table spoke about synchromodality and of the need to implement decisions using smart technologies, and how this increases the efficiency of ports.

Lastly, Pablo Coto Millán, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration and Professor of Economic Analysis at the University of Cantabria, presented the conclusions and discussed the future trends in ports, digital transformation and global logistics. Ramón Ignacio García, director general of Tarragona Port Authority, brought the conference to a close.