On Friday 13th, the Port Authority of Tarragona (APT) publicly presented its Innovare Plan (2025–2030 Innovation Plan) at an event held in the Josefina Castellví room of the APT’s institutional building. The session brought together more than 70 attendees, including members of SOM-INN PORT, companies and organizations from the port community, businesses and technology centers, and key stakeholders from the region’s economic ecosystem.
Attendees at the presentation of the Innovare Plan
Santiago Castellà Surribas, President of the Port of Tarragona, welcomed participants and highlighted the Port’s commitment to consolidating its role as a driver of transformation, competitiveness, and innovation in service of the territory. He also emphasized that innovation plays an essential role in the economy, is decisive in ensuring the future of ports, and that the new Innovare Plan defines the role innovation must play at the Port of Tarragona.
Santiago Castella, Port of Tarragona’s President, during his intervention
The Plan was presented by Carme Tarragó, Head of the Innovation and Blue Economy Department at the APT and coordinator of SOM-INN PORT, together with Ignasi Clos, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of SDLI–Innovation Agency, with whom the Port has worked closely in defining this strategic innovation roadmap for the next five years.
Carme Tarragó, Head of the Innovation and Blue Economy Department and coordinator of SOM-INN PORT
The Port of Tarragona’s Innovare Plan, approved by the Board of Directors last December, sets the strategic vision of becoming, by 2030, a benchmark Mediterranean port in innovation applied to digitalization and the sustainability of port logistics operations, while fostering the growth of an active, connected, and talent-driven blue economy ecosystem.
Ignasi Clos, Co-Funder & Managing Partner of SDLI, explaining SOM-INN PORT’s Observatory
The Innovare Plan consolidates the open innovation ecosystem SOM-INN PORT as the mechanism that institutionalizes innovation within the Port, both internally (APT) and externally (port community).
The objectives of the Plan are structured around three strategic innovation pillars aligned with the most significant trends in port activity: digitalization, sustainability, and operational efficiency and safety.
To achieve these objectives, the Innovare Plan includes a roadmap of 19 actions to be implemented between this year and 2030. These actions are organized into five areas of work: strategy, organization and roles, knowledge management, processes and tools, and innovative culture and talent.
Carme Tarragó stressed that innovation is driven by people and called for the collaboration of all members of the Port of Tarragona’s open innovation ecosystem to successfully implement the Innovare Plan.
During the event, José Llorca, Head of the Innovation Area at Puertos del Estado, also took the floor to present the current calls for ideas and innovation projects under the Trade Tech Ports 4.0 Fund, highlighting funding opportunities for commercial innovation ideas and projects in the port sector.
José Llorca, Head of the Innovation Area at Puertos del Estado, during his intervention
The session concluded with a networking space that facilitated the exchange of ideas and connections among companies, startups, and professionals linked to port innovation.
With the Innovare Plan, the Port of Tarragona takes a decisive step toward positioning itself as an open innovation hub and a benchmark within the port system.
From SOM-INN PORT, we continue activating the ecosystem.
Explore some of the media outlets already covering the Innovare Plan in this link
Innovation and Blue Economy Department