On 10 February 2021, the partners of the new Atlantic Smart Ports Blue Acceleration Network (AspBAN) met for the first time to prepare the launch of the project and define the first activities to carry out.

As part of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) call on “Cross-sectoral development of innovative port clusters in the Atlantic: Developing a blue accelerator scheme for Atlantic ports” (EMFF-APC-2020 call), the AspBAN project has been selected by the European Commission to put in place an acceleration services platform for EU Atlantic Ports.

AspBAN will support Atlantic Ports to act as ecosystems to foster innovation in the blue economy, thus diversifying their business models and revenue sources. The project is a 2-year project led by the collaborative innovation consultancy Beta-I and will involve 13 partners, among which is the Clúster Marítimo de Canarias, CMC.

This project will support implementation of Pillar I of the revised Atlantic Action Plan and will also connect partners in the European Economic Area, transatlantic and other relevant EU and non-EU maritime basins, notably through its network of 123 strategic partners.

Based on the successful experience of Bluetech Accelerator – Ports&Shipping 4.0 in Portugal, the AspBAN aims to have a final pool of 30 innovative startup solutions developed as pilots in 30 Atlantic ports, attracting 6M€ in direct private investment, mobilizing 4,5billion€ of potential private investment and making a reduction of at least 100.000 tons of CO2 emissions in the operations of the 30 ports.

 

The AspBAN partners will meet again on March 3, 2021 to prepare the ground for the launch of the project in April 2021.

Stay tuned!