Valencia, Spain port officials are working on the implementation of emerging technologies including blockchain and Big Data to create a ‘smart port’.

Those present at the Smart Ports and Supply Chain Technologies Conference in Rotterdam heard Valencian port officials lay out strategies aimed at improving services to their clients.

Supply chain visibility

Jose Garcia de la Guia, in charge of new technologies for the Port of Valencia Authority (APV), said: “We are turning to blockchain as a strategic option to give extreme-to-extreme visibility to the supply chain. We even plan to go beyond our Port Community Systems (PCS)”.

He explained that the APV is contemplating providing services to companies that are incorporated into its PCS as well as those who are not. We will achieve that with technologies in the cloud that are required to adapt to permanent changes”..

A paperless authority

“We will transform into a paperless port authority with a potent technological component that will allow us to extend our services to anywhere in the world,” he added. “We will transform into a new PCS platform without technical or growth limitations to offer new services and improve the ones we provide currently.”

Technology will help PCS optimise resources and infrastructure, reduce development timeframes and maintenance costs, he assures.

The Smart Ports conference’s objective is to debate the role of the industry in technological implementation and leadership as well as to reveal to the sector the latest innovation in smart ports and the supply chain.