Fundación de la Comunidad Valenciana para la Investigación, Promoción y Estudios Comerciales de Valenciaport
Description
The Fundación de la Comunidad Valenciana para la Investigación, Promoción y Estudios Comerciales de Valenciaport (Fundación Valenciaport hereafter) is a private non-profit research centre that was created in 2004 through an agreement between the Port Authority of Valencia (APV), the University of Valencia, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, the Valencian Export Institute (IVEX), the Regional Government and the Valencian City Hall as well as the most representative associations, companies and institutions of the Valencian logistics-ports community and transport sector. It was conceived to further expand the reach of the logistics-ports community by serving as a research, training and cooperation centre of excellence.
The Fundación Valenciaport covers a wide range of fields of expertise that include port planning, the application of ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) in ports (Port Community Systems, Single Window, Port Management Systems, Terminal Operation Systems, etc.), the logistic chain and intermodality, port services and infrastructures, as well as economic and commercial port aspects. In addition, the Fundación Valenciaport has wide experience in horizontal priority issues like security in ports, energy efficiency, the drafting of environmental plans or the handling of dangerous goods in ports. They have helped with the conversion of the port community of Valencia into a reference at a global level.
In all these fields, The Fundación Valenciaport has successfully implemented international projects focused on innovation and funded by several donors (EU, Work Bank, Inter-American Bank of Development, Spanish Ministry, own customer resources, etc.). They have a vast amount of experience in the management of public funding, international projects, and in the building of transnational partnerships. Moreover, they take advantage of the proximity and knowledge of the Port Authority of Valencia, of the port terminals and of the other companies included in the port cluster.
To achieve its objectives and to effectively support the port community, The Fundación Valenciaport is integrated by highly-skilled staff that are specialized in port topics and port training. Among others, its staff is composed of naval engineers, industrial engineers, IT experts specialized in the application of ICT in ports, experts in logistics, economists, and holders of degrees in environmental science, experts in financial management and in port training. In total, more than 50 professionals work in close collaboration to develop, improve and share the know-how and expertise of the Fundación Valenciaport.
Role In Project
Due to its wide experience and deep knowledge of the port system and maritime environment, in fields ranging from operational and performance to safety/security risk assessment, sustainable development and environmental conservation, VPF will participate in the preparatory actions and data collection, and in the simulation of the maritime transport.
In the first instance, VPF’ tasks will be focus on the availability of data related to the spreading of invasive species through the ballast water, including several actions such as mapping exiting data bases and tools for assessing the risk of transference between ports; and identifying existing data gaps that are/can hamper the implementation of the EU maritime policies and the IMO Ballast Water Convention. Furthermore, it will also be involved in the application of innovative protocols for detecting the invasive species in ports, analysing the influence of port morphology and traffics in the spreading of invasive species that potentially could warm the local Blue Economy.