New Latitude programme set up to promote the Port of Barcelona's open innovation strategy

Yesterday the Port of Barcelona, through the BCN Port Innovation Foundation and BlueTechPort, and Lloyd's Register, through Safetytech Accelerator, presented the open innovation programme New Latitude - Open Innovation Programme by Port of Barcelona at 4YFN. The programme aims to respond to some of the challenges currently facing the international port sector in areas like secure data exchanges (Green Digital Corridors & Trusted Data Spaces); the circular economy (Circular Economy & Innovative Raw Materials), and integrating nature into ports (Evolving Ports to Integrate Nature). 

The presentation, held as part of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), was given by Catalina Grimalt, Deputy General Manager and Head of Organisation and Internal Resources of the Port of Barcelona and General Manager of the BCN Port Innovation Foundation; Carles Anglada, CEO at World Trade Center Barcelona responsible for the development of BlueTechPort, and Marius Suteu, Managing Director of Safetytech Accelerator, in a round table session moderated by Miquel de la Mano, Chief Technology Officer of the BCN Port Innovation Foundation. 

The speakers outlined how the New Latitude programme was created to combine the capacities and knowledge of the institutions involved to optimize the process of defining challenges, identify and evaluate technological solutions and the perform a feasibility analysis and design of the pilots. In this first edition of the programme, the BCN Port Innovation Foundation, BlueTechPort and Safetytech Accelerator will cover the running costs, reinforcing the shared commitment to applied innovation. 

During the presentation it was also explained that the corporates of the BlueTechPort ecosystem and the BCN Port Innovation Foundation will have priority when defining innovation challenges, aligning the programme with the real needs of the Port of Barcelona that could also be applicable in other environments. It was also underlined that this initiative emerged to promote shared projects between various corporates, promoting co-ownership models and initiatives of a more ecosystemic scope that connect similar challenges. Likewise, this programme will allow the Port of Barcelona to expand its innovative environment by incorporating more companies into the ecosystem. 

The projects will revolve around three areas. 

- The first, Green Digital Corridors & Trusted Data Spaces, arose from the agreement signed in August 2025 between the ports of Barcelona and Shanghai to develop a green maritime corridor. This area will focus on promoting the digitalisation, standardisation and decarbonisation of maritime transport, facilitating the secure and efficient exchange of data between port actors. 

- The second area, Circular Economy & Innovative Raw Materials, aims to collect and transform plastic waste generated in the port environment, reintroducing it as recovered materials within the port ecosystem itself, significantly reducing such waste. 

- The third area, Evolving Ports to Integrate Nature, is part of the RegenPorts initiative and responds to the need to evolve towards a port model that not only minimizes impacts, but also actively contributes to environmental regeneration. 

The New Latitude programme will kick off in April, with plans to present the results in November at the Smart Ports: Piers of the Future event, to be held as part of the Smart City Expo World Congress 2026. The resulting feasibility studies will be evaluated and may receive a specific budget line from the Foundation to perform pilot tests. 

The participants at the presentation stated that all three institutions involved would like the programme to continue in future editions, consolidating its role as a recurring initiative within the Port of Barcelona's open innovation strategy.