Valencia – 27.06.19. This morning the kick-off meeting of the project iTerminals 4.0 – Application of industry 4.0 technologies towards digital port container terminals, financed by the CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) Programme of the European Commission and coordinated by the Valenciaport Foundation, took place.

The iTerminals 4.0 project is oriented towards the digitalisation of port operations and the adoption of industry 4.0 technologies in the port sector. This initiative includes a study with implementation of pilot projects in real operations in European container port terminals.

The development of the 4th Industrial Revolution in the last decade (Industry 4.0) is progressively introducing new technologies and the adoption of concepts such as Internet of Things, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Robotics and Automation, which are transforming industry and society. In this sense, the port industry is not taking advantage of the benefits and impacts derived from the digital transformation due to the low degree of implementation of these technologies and digital solutions.

This project is expected to offer a wide range of benefits derived from the digital transformation of port operations in terms of increased operational efficiency, (cyber) security, cost reduction and reduced carbon footprint. The new IoT solutions and the pilots proposed in the project will be developed in eight strategic container terminals located in eight ports of the so-called Core network of the Trans-European Transport Network: Antwerp, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Rouen, Malta, Sines and Genoa.

The pilot activities will serve to improve, adapt and demonstrate the viability of the proposed solutions, as well as their benefits, before implementing them on a large scale. The project will evaluate the Industry 4.0 pilots applied to the operational environment of the selected container terminals, including the implementation of new sensor networks in port equipment, the design of prediction algorithms and the application of artificial intelligence to the current business intelligence models used by the container terminals.