Secretive ports holding back industry growth

Speaking exclusively to Port Strategy, Cars Rúa, head of strategic projects and innovation at the Port of Barcelona, said that ports need to communicate better about the innovation initiatives they are taking. “You need the help of other ports, you need to join with the smartest ports in the world, you need to benchmark what others are doing and tell them what you are doing well.” That allows everyone to advance, he added. “If you keep innovation and activity to yourself and try to hide what you are doing from others, it isn’t a good idea and it makes it more difficult to advance.”

Mr Rúa said that ports are linked by many commonalities and that it pays to know what other ports are doing, else risk “making the same mistakes as others”.

“If you can avoid mistakes and benefit from others’ experience, all the ports will act better,” he said. In the end, he concluded, all ports have the same mission: to facilitate international commerce and help companies to import and export.

The Port of Barcelona’s PierNext project aims to “create a structure around innovation” and strategically develop innovations. It is open to all Port of Barcelona stakeholders and to other ports.

This article is taken from a feature on collaboration and innovation which will appear in the April 2019 issue of Port Strategy. Register here to receive your exclusive advance copy.