The  Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB), together with more than fifty of its stakeholders, has started to reflect on the innovative initiatives taken by the organisation. All this has materialised today in the presentation of the port innovation ecosystem, in which the president of the APB, Francesc Antich, the director, Jorge Nasarre, and the head of the Quality, Environment, Innovation and CSR department, Jorge Martín, took part.

According to the president, today’s event "expresses the desire to start a close collaboration with all those who can play relevant and decisive roles in promoting the best operation of our ports".

Antich pointed out that "it is a good initiative for public administrations, the business fabric, the academic sector and civil society to come together to create an ecosystem to promote and innovative, more social, more sustainable and more inclusive economic model".

Jorge Nasarre outlined the specific objectives of the Strategic Plan on which the APB is working, in which innovation itself is a strategy that encompasses the rest: "This is a tool that will allow us to achieve our vision and mission, and we do not want to and cannot do it alone," he said.

As far as Jorge Martín is concerned, he went into the parameters that help us to measure the innovation of a region, with the aim of "moving forward together towards the port of the future". The port ecosystem, in continuous growth, includes projects such as the Port Centre in the moll Vell, the Marine Pole, the Technology Transfer Centre in the Riba lighthouse and other future initiatives such as a Sand-Box in the commercial docks and the Maritime Museum in the Contramuelle-Mollet.

Finally, KPMG's Director of Innovation, Quim Martínez, highlighted the importance of open innovative ecosystems as knowledge-based drivers, where the private sector leads the initiative and the public sector facilitates it.

Nou Llevant Innovation District

A large part of the public authority's contribution to innovation is embodied in the "Districte d'Innovació Nou Llevant" initiative, which aims to turn the Nou Llevant area, Soledad sur and the seafront into a new economic hub for Palma based on the knowledge economy, digitalisation and innovation.

The APB will participate in this initiative through the development of the Marine Pole, which mainly includes the work of the Coastal Observation and Forecasting System (SOCIB) and the Spanish Oceanographic Institute (IOE).