Tech start-ups and entrepreneurs will wow Posidonia 2020’s visitors and delegates this summer with their latest, high tech, digitally-enabled and data-driven solutions to age-old legacy problems, as well as with a fresher perspective for a more sustainable and efficient future for the shipping industry.
They will showcase transformational technologies with the potential to impact every facet of the marine industry, including safety on board, engine and hull monitoring, multi-channel ship to shore communication, health services on board, business intelligence and analytics, fintech and susceptible cargo monitoring.
“Tracking of cargo at sea, crewless shipping, the digitalisation of maintenance processes and ships controlled remotely from land are just some in a long list of many radical transformational trends, which the maritime industry will be asked to embrace in the not too distant future as the advent of digital technologies continues unabated,” said Theodore Vokos, Managing Director, Posidonia Exhibitions S.A., the organisers of Posidonia.
Such technologies will be displayed in abundance and strategically deployed and showcased at the Digital Innovation Village, the new tech and emerging maritime start-ups pavilion at this year’s Posidonia from 1-5 June.
The Digital Innovation Village is organised in cooperation with the Hellenic Association of Mobile Applications Companies (HAMAC) and is the ideal platform for start-ups and scale-ups to reach out to the maritime industry. Under the theme ‘Blue innovation for sustainable growth’, this pavilion will host innovative new technologies related to the Blue Economy and aims to create collaborations and synergies between the Greek maritime ecosystem and companies new to the sector. Some of the technologies to be showcased include IoT sensors with embedded intelligence and computing, Cybersecurity, Saas (Software as a Service) and Satellite and Hybrid communications. Nereus Maritime Software has already signed up for the DIV and will be showcasing a revolutionary and powerful web-based platform to provide transparency and efficiency to the purchasers of marine fuels.
“Digital transformation is the big challenge for maritime and the Blue Economy, in general. The Digital Innovation Village at Posidonia 2020 will host new innovative companies that will mark the new era. The pioneers will be there,” said Yiannis Kotsis-Giannarakis, General Manager, HAMAC.
Another tech start-up zone at Posidonia 2020 is the SHIPPINGInsight New Tech Pavilion which will feature a range of new technology-driven solutions from the US for the marine industry, with the goal of offering a ‘one-stop shop’ approach. They include Purify Fuel’s fuel nanotechnology, Ultraclean’s desulphurisation products, SPBES’ lithium ion energy storage systems, and SHIPNEXT’S Digital Shipping Marketplace and Transportation Platform. They will also host existing technology with new tech twists such as Marine Armor Defense’s flexible and green coating technology and the Tig Rig wind assist system.
“Because I believe in New Tech, and because I know how tough it is to break into the shipping world, I have created the SHIPPINGInsight New Tech Pavilion at Posidonia which is featuring 6 innovative technologies” stated SHIPPINGInsight Chief Evolution Officer Carleen Lyden Walker. “Further, on Thursday June 4 at 14:30, we will be holding a SHARK TANK involving shipowner/investor ‘Sharks’ who will invest in new tech ‘chum’ after hearing their pitches. Those who are exhibiting in the SHIPPINGInsight New Tech Pavilion will automatically qualify to be in the SHARK TANK which will be co-hosted by the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.”
An initiative designed to bring together the best Greek emerging start-ups and SMEs in the Blue Economy with entrepreneurs, investors and industry decision-makers at Posidonia 2020 is the ‘Emerging Maritime Start-ups in Greece’ event, organised by Blue Growth at the Posidonia venue on June 3. Its objective is to generate concrete business opportunities and visibility of business ideas bringing innovation and digitalisation to the Blue Economy. Mature tech start-ups will pitch their projects in the field of shipping, energy and the yachting industry. The start-ups will present next-generation technologies and services and will have the opportunity to develop their network during the event, as the aim is to bring them in touch with potential partners and investors.
And the growing interest and demand for increased collaboration and relationship building between the maritime sector and tech entrepreneurs, who generate the ideas and technologies to redefine the industry, are fueling efforts by Optima-X to build a hub of excellence. Having teamed up with the Greek Ministry for Development and Investments, as well as Fathom World, Optima-X will organise a workshop at Posidonia 2020 designed to promote the work of tech start-ups targeting the Blue Economy.
Posidonia is organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Insular Policy, the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping and the Union of Greek Shipowners and with the support of the Municipality of Piraeus and the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee.
