Marrakech – The closing ceremony of the 3rd edition of the “Smart Port Challenge 2024” Hackathon, an international competition dedicated to innovation in the port and logistics sector, took place on Friday in Marrakech, on the occasion of the 2nd Gitex Africa Morocco.

Organized by the National Ports Agency (ANP) and ‘PortNet’, in partnership with Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) of Benguerir, this event, which saw the participation of more than 290 startups from around the world, is part of efforts to strengthen collaborative innovation, research and scientific and technological development in the port sector.

Part of the ‘Smartport Innovation’ initiative launched by ANP and Portnet, this hackathon also highlights the most promising ideas and projects designed to equip the port community with innovative solutions to known challenges.

According to the organizers, these startups benefited from the mentoring of more than 30 renowned experts in each category to help them better understand the issues r
elated to the selected topics and to be able to deploy their solutions. This led to the presentation of 174 innovations in response to the three challenges in ‘Sustainability and environment’, ‘Port performance’ and ‘Port safety’.

Following evaluation of the various projects by the juries, three initiatives, namely ‘Port Surveyor’, ‘BlueDove’ and ‘Awake.ai’, were selected for proof-of-concept (PoC) development within the entities concerned.

Speaking at the ceremony, ANP Director General Nadia Laraki explained that this innovation competition calls on collective intelligence, designed to nurture a spirit of creativity in the port sector, adding that the creation of this Hackathon reflects ‘our ambition to build a forward-looking, modern and resilient port ecosystem’.

Noting that this third challenge focuses on safety, security and cybersecurity, Laraki pointed out that these themes are in line with the strategic orientations of the ANP, in accordance with the High Royal Directives, aimed at modernizing the
port sector and raising the Kingdom to the rank of the most developed nations in terms of maritime transport and connections.

They are among the strategic priorities of the 2024-2026 triennium, namely anchoring good governance practices, stimulating port operational performance, accelerating ecological, energy and digital transitions, and federating and converging the port community, she stressed, before concluding that this year’s awards are further proof of the dynamism and fruitfulness of ecosystems, which enable bridges to be built between research and foreign trade players.

For his part, PortNet Managing Director Youssef Ahouzi was delighted that celebrating the winners of this Hackathon had become a tradition on the agenda of port ecosystem players, noting that for this third edition, ‘we wanted to make the port community aware of the environmental issues and challenges facing the port sector, particularly in terms of performance and cybersecurity’.

These three issues (Sustainability and Environment,
Port Performance and Port Security) ‘challenge us all in more ways than one, as they are part of a vision for the future, in continuity with the advances made by Morocco in the port and maritime sector, under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI’, he said, dwelling on the results and highlights of this third edition, which kicked off on December 20, 2023.

For his part, Yassine Laghzioui, Managing Director of UM6P Ventures, emphasized the importance of the projects selected, stressing that the quest for innovation is synonymous with excellence.

Companies that challenge themselves on a daily basis are the ones that survive,’ he said, highlighting Morocco’s leadership in terms of port infrastructure in the region, and even worldwide.

He welcomed the collaboration between ANP, PortNet and UM6P, which illustrates that the various players are moving forward at the same pace, explaining that an innovation ecosystem cannot be developed without effective collaboration between all stakeholders (public
authorities, private sector, universities, etc.).

In a statement to MAP, Tarik Maouni, Director of Information Systems and Digital Transformation at the ANP, said that the hackathon was a collaborative ‘open innovation’ initiative, noting that the Kingdom’s ports were facing different kinds of challenges, hence the competition to find smart, intelligent answers to these challenges in the world of startups.

Through this initiative, the partners aim to boost economic performance and competitiveness by mobilizing the collective intelligence of the port ecosystem, in order to create optimal conditions for intelligent ports, by coordinating the actions of the various stakeholders to provide innovative solutions to major port challenges.

Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse