The Fundación Valenciaport has undertaken the development and implementation of an R+D+i Plan for the logistics community of the Port of Valencia, an initiative that has been supported by the Port Authority of Valencia and the Valencian Agency for Innovation (AVI), through its programme of “Complementary Actions to Promote and Strengthen Innovation”.
This project has been developed as a strategic tool for the promotion of innovation in the Port of Valencia, identifying and analysing the most relevant trends that will condition competitiveness in the sector and proposing lines of action in the field of R+D+i aimed at the challenges posed in the short, medium and long term.To develop the plan, work has been carried out with the different groups that make up the cluster, as well as with relevant agents in the Valencian science and technology system, defining five activities:
Firstly, a review of the current state of innovation and technology in the port logistics sector has been carried out. This activity has been carried out with the collaboration of entities of the Valencian scientific network, which have also participated in the working groups related to the themes mentioned below.
Subsequently, field work has been carried out with the different agents of the Valenciaport cluster, based on the selection of a group of companies and management and technical personnel with a high capacity for innovation. The fieldwork consisted of personal interviews carried out by the Valenciaport Foundation team, with an approximate duration of between 60 and 90 minutes, which not only allowed the trends and technologies contained in the questionnaire to be contrasted, but also identified proposals for action of interest to the companies in the cluster.
In addition, three thematic working groups were organised: Automation and digitalisation in the port logistics field; Environment, energy and safety/protection in the port logistics field and Business models and collaborative economy. These groups met in two-hour sessions and worked on the identification, discussion and prioritisation of the main lines of work that make up the innovation plan of the logistics community of Valenciaport.
Finally, within the plan, the creation of an Innovation Committee is contemplated, as a stable structure for the follow-up of the actions defined in the plan, with representation of the different groups that make up the cluster and integrated by people of a recognised innovative character in the sector. This committee will be responsible for monitoring and promoting the innovation plan, with technical assistance from the Valenciaport Foundation. It will be the instrument that allows the plan’s activity to be energised through the promotion of different types of activities, such as the organisation of conferences and debate forums, the implementation of projects, the analysis of initiatives generated in other sectors, etc.
The development of the plan has allowed for the definition of a flexible working methodology, which will give continuity to what has been achieved in 2018, allowing for continuous updating of the trends and lines of work identified through the stable participation of the cluster in the working groups and the innovation committee.
