Valenciaport Hackathon consolidates its leadership in port innovation with a fifth high-level edition

The 5th Valenciaport Hackathon brought together 45 participants and prominent members of the port community in the Clock Building of the Port of Valencia from May 9 to 11, working on real challenges in the port-logistics sector
The challenges addressed topics such as cybersecurity, traceability of MARPOL waste and energy efficiency of refrigerated containers
This edition had three cash prizes totaling 6,000 euros.
The hackathon consolidates the Port of Valencia as an international benchmark in open innovation, connecting young talent with the challenges of the sector

Valencia, May 12th, 2025.- From May 9th to 11th, the emblematic Edificio del Reloj of the Port of Valencia hosted the 5th edition of the Valenciaport Hackathon, organized by Opentop, Valenciaport’s innovation hub. This event brought together 45 participants distributed in 9 multidisciplinary teams, who worked intensively for three days to develop solutions to real challenges posed by entities of the port ecosystem.

The challenges posed to the participants were:

Facilitating compliance with the European NIS2 Directive on cybersecurity by companies in the transport sector, posed by ATEIA, and represented by Raminatrans.
Improving traceability and reducing emissions in the management of ship waste, proposed by the Port Authority of Valencia.
Improving the energy efficiency of refrigerated containers during their stay at the port terminal, presented by Logistop.

During the afternoon of Friday, the collaborating companies and entities and the challenges were presented, and the teams were configured. Saturday began with a visit to the Port of Valencia, guided by Juan Manuel Díez, head of Innovation of the Port Authority of Valencia, followed by a visit to the facilities of APM Terminals, with a presentation by Joan Carbó, Equipment Project Engineer of APMT. Back at the Clock Building, the teams continued working on their projects.

On Sunday, May 11 was the key day with the presentations of the projects before the jury of the 5th Hackathon Valenciaport composed of José Andrés Giménez of the Fundación Valenciaport, Yolanda Trujillo of the IDF Association, Angela Castelló of Startup Valencia and Francisco Macián of the Port Authority of Valencia.

After a difficult deliberation, the jury selected the three winning projects:

1st Prize, of €3,000 offered by the Juan Arizo Serrulla Foundation. The team proposes a low-cost technological solution that allows real-time monitoring of the energy consumption of reefer containers, thanks to an IoT (Internet of Things) device. With this information, an intelligent management system is developed that optimizes the on/off of the containers using thermodynamic principles and massive data analysis, allowing to detect anomalies and visualize the status of all equipment on a dashboard.

2nd Prize of €2,000 awarded by The Whiteam Technology Services (twt-ts). The participants suggest a SaaS solution to reinforce cybersecurity culture in port environments. It integrates interactive training, threat detection, employee progress tracking and NIS2 compliance. It allows to manage actions in real time, automate key tasks, generate audits and segment access by user profile, offering a comprehensive and scalable tool focused on people as the first link of protection.

3rd Prize of €1,000 provided by the association of logistics managers Propeller Valencia. The team offers an IoT (Internet of Things) solution for real-time monitoring of temperature, humidity and energy consumption in refrigerated containers. The system eliminates manual intervention, triggering alerts in case of anomalies and allows developing a predictive model of energy consumption based on the position of the container in the stack, weather data and logistical conditions. This makes it possible to optimize the layout of the reefers and significantly improve operational and energy efficiency.

An honorable mention was also awarded by the audience in recognition of the originality and usefulness of the solution presented.

This 5th edition of the Valenciaport Hackathon consolidates the Port of Valencia as an international benchmark in open innovation, connecting young talent with the challenges of the sector and proposing sustainable and intelligent solutions for the ports of the future.

Antonio Torregrosa, general director of the Fundación Valenciaport, who performed the inauguration of the Hackathon has expressed his satisfaction for the celebration of this fifth edition:

“It is a pride to see how the Valenciaport Hackathon consolidates year after year as a meeting space between young talent and the real challenges of the logistics-port sector. The high technical level and motivation of the participants are impressive, and the three challenges posed address key areas to drive innovation and sustainability in our port environment.

Moreover, this Hackathon has perfectly reflected Opentop’s objectives as an innovation hub: to foster open innovation and generate a true matching between the Port Community and innovative talent.”

Juan Manuel Díez Orejas, head of Innovation at the Port Authority of Valencia, was in charge of closing the event by highlighting the strategic value of this initiative:

“The celebration of the Valenciaport Hackathon reinforces the positioning of the Port of Valencia as a benchmark in port innovation at an international level. This type of event not only connects with new generations, but also consolidates our commitment to open the needs of the Port to external technological knowledge, promoting open innovation models that bring real value to the port community.

This Hackathon is a great opportunity to involve the Valencian port cluster, detecting new talent and identifying applicable ideas that allow us to continue moving towards a more efficient, sustainable, safe and connected port.”

This hackathon has counted with the challenges posed by Logistop, ATEIA Valencia and the Port Authority of Valencia; and with the collaboration of APM Terminals, CiberTRS, Infoport and Raminatrans; the awards offered by the Juan Arizo Serrulla Foundation, The Whiteam Technologies Services (twt-ts) and Propeller Valencia; the support of the Innovation Committee of Clúster Valenciaport, Ideas UPV, Invest in València, Startup Valencia, València Innovation Capital; and the co-financing of the National Institute of Cybersecurity (INCIBE) through INCIBE Emprende and the IDF Institute.