The Port of Barcelona joins the wave of innovation hubs that the Catalan capital has experienced in recent years. The institution has decided to transform the old sheds of the Sant Bertran dock into a center dedicated to developing new business models for the blue economy, where startups, institutions, and corporations will coexist under one roof. Very close to the Ronda Litoral, this space has had a marginal use for years.
The objective of the future Blue Tech Port is to complement the current offer of institutions and centers that promote innovation in the Catalan capital, since, according to the president of the Port, Damià Calvet, "they do not look enough at the sea." The boost to the blue economy will be accompanied by other initiatives that are also emerging in the city, such as the reform of the Port Olímpic that the City Council is undertaking to develop this business sector. It will also benefit from the arrival of international institutions such as the World Ocean Council, which has chosen Barcelona as the venue for the Sustainable Ocean Summit world congress and has decided to hold the first world summit on blue finance.
Launching the new space will involve an investment of between six and seven million euros, financed with own resources from the Barcelona Port Authority. The intervention will preserve the physiognomy and structure of the six warehouses that make up the sheds, adapting it to the new tenants and incorporating maritime elements and a green corridor.
The center will include areas for pilot testing, an auditorium, and an agora, with the aim of opening it to the people of Barcelona. "This building has to blend with the city," emphasizes the Director of Innovation and Business Strategy, Emma Cobos. It will also be the definitive location for the new Institute of Logistics, which will start training at the World Trade Center (WTC) in the 2022-23 academic year and then move to the sheds.
Calvet has defined the basic lines of the project, but there is still a way to go to finish outlining it. The Port is working on the basic project that will specify what this future new hub of the city will be like. For now, they do not have deadlines for when it can be completed. In addition, the celebration of the America's Cup in 2024 will influence its development, taking into account that the competition will require multiple spaces, including the sheds.
The Blue Tech Port will be the centerpiece of the Blue District, an innovation area that the Port Authority wants to promote around it, especially in the Port Vell area. Alliances will be established with actors such as Barcelona Activa, Acció, Tech Barcelona, 22@, Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital), Fira de Barcelona or the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB) to carry out pilot tests and test new business models. "We are not going to compete, Barcelona is very innovative. It's about adding initiatives that already exist in the city," explains Cobos. "Without alliances we cannot innovate," he adds.
Through a private foundation
The Port of Barcelona will articulate this commitment to innovation with the creation of a private foundation, which will have to serve to gain flexibility and agility when promoting projects. The BCN Port Innovation foundation will have as founding partners the institution chaired by Calvet and the companies Ackcent and Aggity. The first specializes in cybersecurity and the second in digital transformation.
The Port and the companies Ackcent and Aggity will be the founding partnersThe foundation will be completed with other companies, both from the port community and from other areas, such as technology, energy or mobility. In addition to the three founders, there will be different levels of partners, with annual contributions ranging from 10,000 euros to more than 25,000 euros.The companies that join will be part of the pilots.
Both the foundation and the new Blue Tech Port fit into the innovation plan that the Port has just approved. It follows and structures other pioneering projects that the institution has been promoting in recent years, such as quality plans, the Logistics Activities Zone (ZAL), the participation of shipping companies and operators through the Governing Council of the Port Community, or the promotion of training with the Escola Europea Intermodal Transport.