The Port Innovators Network (PIN) is an unprecedented formal collaboration between the Port Authorities of Halifax, Hamburg and Valencia and their respective, already well established innovation labs, PIER, HOMEport and Opentop.
PIN was created to boost the adoption of innovation in the global port ecosystem. By exchanging innovative ideas, project outcomes, commercialization pathways, methodologies, and best practices among its communities and members, PIN accelerates positive operational impacts. Through the selection and provision of common service models, PIN leverages local services to enter the global market with a network effect, enabling collaborative problem-solving and innovation solution calls on a global scale. PIN’s original and innovative character lies in its collaboration among various port innovation hubs, supported by port authorities, to achieve goals effectively and create significant impacts on the ecosystem and port communities.
As articulated by Phanthian Zuesongdham from the Hamburg Port Authority, the network opens “new business opportunities and lets us benefit from each other through best practices to accelerate the innovation adoption.” PIN envisions becoming the premier global network of port innovation hubs and their communities, dedicated to shaping the FUTURE OF PORTS. This vision becomes tangible by adding an “international perspective between the hubs and their respective members”, according to Michael Davie, representing the Halifax Port Authority.
PIN’s intercontinental network within the port industry, is a perfect example of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 17 – Partnership for the Goals. Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure – is supported by PIN’s approach, as advancing new technology is crucial for sustainable industrialization and economic growth. Lastly, PIN’s initiatives contribute to Goal 8 – decent Work and Economic Growth. PIN creates opportunities for investment, new jobs, and economic development, leveraging “the existing capabilities of innovation hubs globally”, emphasises Antonio Torregrosa, CEO of Fundación Valenciaport.