Call for Applications: Smart Port Challenge

The “Smart Port Challenge” is an Open Innovation program developed by ANP and PORTNET in partnership with UM6P. It is aimed at talented entrepreneurs, both nationally and internationally, who are eager to propose innovative solutions to the themes within the port community.

The challenge domains encompass sustainability and the environment, port performance, as well as port security.

Themes

• Theme 1: Sustainability and Environment
  • Environmental Innovations for Responsible Management and Reduction of Ecological Impacts.
  • During this challenge, startups are invited to propose innovations to address the following issues:
    • Collection and treatment of water plan waste: Operate in hard-to-reach areas to recover solid waste, liquid effluents from ships, oil-contaminated waste, or other pollutants.
    • How to prevent, detect pollution, and determine responsibilities (nomenclature, quantification, type of pollution, responsible operator).
• Theme 2: Port Performance
  • Innovations to Increase Performance and Reduce Delays
  • Through the Smart Port Challenge, ANP, PortNet, and the port community aim to reduce the waiting time for ships and the dwell time of goods, crucial for operations from the ship’s arrival to the cargo leaving the port.
    • How to measure and predict weather conditions to operate in challenging situations?
    • What innovations can streamline imports/exports through the analysis of data on ships and goods?
• Theme 3: Port security
  • Innovations for Resilient Business Continuity and Enhanced Cybersecurity.
  • To address these challenges related to security, safety, and cybersecurity within the port, in the surrounding areas, both in maritime and land spaces, startups are called upon to propose innovations that should:
    • Advanced Surveillance: Propose advanced surveillance solutions, including the use of AI and machine learning, to detect threats from both a digital and physical standpoint by analyzing port data.
    • Risk and Incident Management: Develop community-based cyber risk management tools that consider potential threats, provide real-time alerts, and offer community intervention plans.

Benefits

• Networking & Expertise
  • Benefit from high-level coaching provided by UM6P experts, as well as collaborations with professionals from the port ecosystem, providing you with a network of industry experts and valuable support from ANP and PORTNET.
• PoC Funding
  • The three winning startups will receive PoC funding from Portnet, with an amount of up to 300,000 MAD depending on the nature of their innovation.
• Experimentation
  • Support and provision of the experimentation ground for 15 weeks for the POC deployment, allowing the three winning startups of the challenge to benefit from the plurality and complementarity of the port community’s professions to test and confront their solutions with the realities of the field.
• Showcase at GITEX Africa
  • The three finalists startups will have the opportunity to have a dedicated promotion at GITEX AFRICA.

What are the selection criteria?

• Legal Status
  • The startup must have a legal status and be registered in the commercial register.
• Team and Experience
  • The startup must demonstrate its ability to lead innovative projects and master disruptive new technologies, as well as the quality of its team.
• Availability and Commitment
  • Evaluation of the operational commitment of the startup, especially its ability to actively collaborate with the port community to implement relevant solutions throughout the hybrid competition period.
• Contracting Capability
  • Evaluation of the startup’s ability to actualize the solution in the port and foreign trade sector with interested stakeholders.

For more information, visit Startup Studio-UM6P.