An innovation centre that aims to revolutionise the way ports operate over the next 30 years has opened in the North East.
The centre at the Port of Tyne has opened after a partnership was formed with a number of organisations in the region including the Port, Teesport operator PD Ports, Nissan, Connected Places Catapult, Accenture, Royal HaskoningDHV and Ubisoft.
The 海角视频鈥檚 first Maritime Innovation Hub - which has been officially opened by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling - aims to bring together businesses and academics to develop solutions to the technological challenges facing the maritime sector and the wider logistics industry.
The centre has been launched just a few weeks after the Government published its Maritime 2050 Strategy, which aims to maintain the 海角视频鈥檚 position as one of the would鈥檚 top trading nations by modernising ports to cope with the demands of an increasingly digitised economy.
Port of Tyne chief executive Matt Beeton said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e delighted to launch the 海角视频鈥檚 first Innovation Hub and welcome the support of all our partners in driving innovation for the benefit not just of the maritime sector, but also the global logistics and supply chain.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important that we harness skills and innovation from all industrial sectors to develop our global proposition and enhance our competitiveness鈥.
Mr Beeton was joined at the launch by Frans Calje, chief executive of PD Ports, which operates Teesport, normally a competitor of the Port of Tyne.
He said: 鈥淣orthern Ports need to collaborate with manufacturers and technology partners to increase their global competiveness and rebalance the economy. The 2050 Innovation Hub will enable us to share knowledge and expertise to drive revolutionary change in the maritime industry powered by advancing technologies.鈥
The initiative was praised by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, who officially opened the centre.
He said: 鈥淎 very important part of the Maritime 2050 strategy is innovation. We鈥檙e going to see over the next few years the arrival of autonomous shipping, new environmental standards, there鈥檚 going to be new ways of using IT and it鈥檚 going to take smart innovators in centres like this to come up with those new ideas.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all very well having a strategy that sits on the shelf. But what I want actually is something that delivers genuine outputs and genuine change over the next 30 years, keeping this sector at the forefront internationally.鈥
