Innovation ecosystems in ports: a comparative analysis of Rotterdam and Valencia

The term ‘innovation ecosystem’ has become popular among stakeholders involved in innovation. The core idea is that innovation does not thrive through isolated actions of individual companies, but rather depends on a broad array of interrelated actors, institutions and policies. In this paper, the authors apply the concept of innovation ecosystems to ports by first providing a theoretical overview of its components and then comparing the efforts to build such an ecosystem in the port cities of Rotterdam and Valencia. The main findings are as follows. First, the importance of innovation for the ability of ports to continue to create ‘value for society’ is widely acknowledged. Second, research and development (R&D) activities in both Rotterdam and Valencia are relatively limited and the dominant innovation challenge is the early application of new technologies developed outside the ports industry. Third, a ‘systemic approach’ is required to understand the innovation ecosystem in ports, given the strong interrelations among companies in the port and the need for broad coalitions to implement new technologies. Fourth and fifth, human capital formation and research cooperation, respectively, play a central role in improving the port innovation ecosystem. Finally, the ecosystem in Rotterdam is ‘distributed and connected’ while Valencia is more centralised.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1186/s41072-023-00145-w
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/23644575
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © The Author(s) 2023.
• Authors:
  • Constante, Jonas Mendes
  • 0000-0001-6236-1846
  • de Langen, Peter W
  • Pruñonosa, Salvador Furió
• Publication Date: 2023

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 18
• Serial:
  • Journal of Shipping and Trade
  • Volume: 8
  • Publisher: Springer Nature
  • ISSN: 2364-4575
  • Serial URL: https://jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com/
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cooperation; Ports; Research; Technological innovations
• Identifier Terms: Port of Rotterdam; Port of Valencia (Spain)
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Research; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01889612
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 3 2023 11:39AM