This year’s event, held at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium, featured keynote speakers from Microsoft, the EU and NATO.
Jacques Vandermeiren, Port of Antwerp-Bruges’s chief executive, said that ports had experienced a series of crises in recent years. “Ports are levers for change that are determined to take up the challenge to be part of the future solution in the domains of climate change, energy security, data sharing, safety and security and many more,” he said.
“This situation requires ports to share insights and experiences and to raise the service levels to our port users. chainPORT undeniably reinforces this role.”
Top of the agenda was an address by Myriam Broeders, chief technology officer at Microsoft sharing her thoughts on artificial intelligence, the metaverse and sustainability.
“Ports of the future will serve as interactive bridges to new horizons,” she said. “Let us remember that the compass to this new world is not just technology but empathy and people empowered to achieve more, enriching the human experience rather than replacing it.”
chainPORT says it is committed to boosting the resilience of supply chains and has partnered with the International Association of Ports and Harbors to harmonise port data. The project aims to bring together processes and terminology associated with port calls to ensure high data quality, standardisation and the smooth flow of information.
Jens Meier, chief executive of Hamburg Port Authority and co-founder of chainPORT, said that ports are subject to a unique set of pressures and vulnerabilities, such as geopolitical turmoil and cyber threats, a view shared by by H.E. Herman Van Rompuy, EU President Emeritus and James Appathurai, NATO’s Emerging Security Challenges lead.
“We are actively taking essential measures to bolster port resilience and optimise supply chain operations,” said Meier.
Energy transition was also high on the agenda with a visit to the premises of natural gas company, Fluxys and a speech by its director of business development and innovation, Raphaël De Winter, highlighting ports’ strengths in the move to greener energies.
