The port sector is facing a fundamental challenge, which is to move to a new level of development by giving greater priority to “Soft” actions, through the overhaul and optimization of port processes, taking advantage of Innovation, new technological resources and the digital revolution. To tackle this challenge, the National Ports Agency of Morocco (ANP) has embarked on a voluntary, inclusive and creative approach involving all stakeholders in the port ecosystem, placing the economic operator at the heart of the various projects.
Through this approach, ANP aims to respond to the various challenges facing the port sector by developing creative and innovative solutions, drawing on the collective intelligence of the port ecosystem to create the right conditions for “Smart Ports”, by coordinating the actions of the various stakeholders to provide practical solutions to the needs of port users.
Open-mindedness, the ability of employees and managers to innovate, to think outside the box, to reinvent working relationships, thanks in particular to a shared approach, is the key to improving the level of competitiveness of the supply chain and ports. Digitization plays an essential role, but it is the ability of men and women to make the best use of it that will enable us to achieve the expected acceleration and facilitation of port and foreign trade processes.
In order to identify both innovation challenges and opportunities, ANP has launched in 2020 and 2022 two international Smart Port Challenge Hackathons dedicated to innovation in the Moroccan port sector. The outcomes led to the development and implementation of various innovative projects addressing challenges such as facilitation of foreign trade processes, reduced waiting times for ships in the harbor, fluidification of truck flows, and monitoring the level of air, water and sediment pollution in ports.