5 million euros in support for the port community: Bremen Smartport Innovation Community receives funding award
The Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL), the port management company bremenports for the special assets port and the University of Bremen have jointly submitted their application for the DATI Pilot funding project to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). With its contribution "Smartport Transfer - Coopetition in the ports of Bremen as an innovation booster on the way to the Smartport (SPorT)", the Smartport community prevailed against almost 500 applications and is one of the 20 initiatives selected nationwide.
Over the next four years, the community will receive up to 5 million euros in funding from the German Agency for Transfer and Innovation (DATI) as part of the BMBF's DATI-Pilot program. An initial orientation meeting with the selected innovation communities will take place at the end of June, with the project officially starting at the beginning of 2025. The DATI pilot program promotes the transfer of knowledge from research to practice and develops new solutions for social challenges.
Bremen Senator Kristina Vogt sees the funding as an opportunity to drive forward the digital transformation of port infrastructure. Up to five million euros will help to implement pioneering projects and secure the competitiveness of the ports. Senator Kathrin Moosdorf emphasizes that Bremen is successfully bringing scientific results into application, strengthening the research and transfer focus on logistics. The close cooperation between science and the port industry is clearly paying off with the BMBF's decision.
Martina Wellbrock, who drove the DATI pilot application for the port special fund as bremenports' representative, forms the steering group for the funding project together with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Freitag, spokesperson for the Bremen Research Cluster for Dynamics in Logistics (LogDynamics) at the University of Bremen, and Prof. Dr. Frank Arendt, Managing Director of ISL Bremen/Bremerhaven. Wellbrock emphasizes the importance of the new funding opportunity for digital port projects and the exchange between science and companies. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Freitag, representing the University of Bremen, added that logistics research must be implemented in a practical prototype manner in order to create added value for the economy, the region and society. Prof. Dr. Frank Arendt underlines the considerable opportunities arising from the funding project:
With its expertise, ISL is contributing to the digital transformation of Bremen's ports and establishing Bremen as a pioneer of intelligent port solutions.
