Initiative aims to turn Barcelona into leading international smartport

The Catalan government and Barcelona's port authority have come together to find innovative digital solutions for improving the facility and turning it into a leading example for smartports around the world.

The government's digital policy department has this year decided to dedicate its SmartCAT Challenge competition, an initiative to support businesses and tech start-ups, to the port instead of local authorities, as in previous editions.

The aim is to turn Barcelona into "a laboratory, a testing ground for innovative and digital responses to the challenges posed by the port's activities," according to the head of the port authority, Mercè Conesa, on Monday.

Meanwhile, digital policy minister, Jordi Puigneró, highlighted the initiative's goal of turning Barcelona's port into a leading international smartport as part of a "digital revolution" aimed at making Catalonia "a genuine digital hub on the European level."