• The presentation of PAULA, a technological platform that optimises the port of call processes for ships, was held in the iconic Clock Building of the Port of València with the participation of around one hundred members of the port-logistics community
• The Deputy Director of Operations of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), Rubén Marín, highlighted Valenciaport’s firm commitment to innovation, the support of the Valenciaport Foundation for research work and the collaboration of the port community
• José Llorca, Head of Innovation at Puertos del Estado, inaugurated the event where the results of the project were presented, which facilitates the digitalised and automatic exchange of information between the main agents of the port-logistic community

 Optimisation, digitalisation and decarbonisation are the keys to the success of the PAULA innovation project. This technological platform is an initiative developed within the framework of the SEAPort Solutions startup, in which the Valenciaport Foundation and Infoport have a stake, and which has the support of the Port Authority of València . The results of the project were presented today to members of the port community in the Clock Building of the Port of València.

PAULA is a platform – PortCDM (Collaborative Decision Making) type – that optimises the port call processes of ships, facilitating the digitalised and automatic exchange of information between the main port-logistic agents, which has been tested in the three ports managed by Valenciaport thanks to the involvement and collaboration of the port community. The success of the project is based on its results: cost savings of 675 euros and a reduction of 45 kg of CO2 emissions for each stopover, an increase in competitiveness and a reduction in administrative procedures.

The event was opened by Rubén Marín, Deputy Director of Operations of the PAV, and José Llorca, Head of Innovation at Puertos del Estado. Marín highlighted ‘the efforts of all the people who have participated in this project. It is a cooperative platform in which the entire port community has done its bit, and thanks to this we can now present the results of PAULA’. For his part, Llorca highlighted the ports’ commitment to innovation, “we have the help of the entrepreneurial agents who have found in the ports a pole of opportunities”.

The project has been financed by the Ports 4.0 capital fund, which is the corporate open innovation model promoted by all the Spanish Port Authorities and managed by Puertos del Estado. The aim of this initiative is to attract, support and facilitate the application of talent and entrepreneurship to the Spanish public and private logistics-port sector in the context of the fourth industrial revolution.

Gabriel Ferrús, managing director of SEAPort Solutions, presented the results of the project and the functionalities of PAULA and gave a demonstration of the platform. Likewise, Gerardo Álvarez, head of maritime operations of the PAV; José Andrés Giménez, director of Port Logistics of the Valenciaport Foundation; and Gonzalo Sandiás, project manager of TIC4.0, discussed the challenges of port call optimisation, as well as the lessons learned in the development of the project.

Antonio Torregrosa, CEO of SEAPort and General Director of Fundación Valenciaport, and Juan Manuel Díez, Director of Innovation of the PAV, closed the conference.