Winners of “Portathon Baltic 2020” – teams from Lithuania, Germany and UAE

The second hackathon “Portathon Baltic 2020”  organised on September 25-27 took place on a virtual platform, involving participants not only from Lithuania, but also from Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The event invited academic youth, representatives of different industries and specialists from various fields to work on innovative solutions that are relevant not only to Klaipeda, but also to other ports in the Baltic Sea region.

Virginijus Sinkevicius, the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, joined the opening event virtually with his speech.

“Ports have always been important drivers of human development, ever since the early days of civilization. And today, they are more relevant than ever. They are the entry point for over 75% of all EU trade, so their role in the European economy cannot be overestimated.

At the same time, ports are also part of some of the biggest transformations that our European society is aiming for. First, the European Green Deal, and our ambition to become a carbon-neutral continent by 2050. Second, the digital transition, shaping Europe’s digital future and moving from followers to global leaders in this area. These strategic priorities are essential to the future of our planet, our future welfare and our sustainable economic growth. And they are, especially in the case of transport, closely interlinked”, – Commissioner  V.Sinkevičius said.
 

The range of challenges of Portathon Baltic 2020 included digitization in the logistics sector, automated port equipment, digitization of port terminals, smart transport ecosystems, cyber security in the maritime sector. The event also called for solutions that would help to reduce water pollution using arine biological resources or components.

Over 80 technology enthusiasts from Lithuanian and foreign academic institutions, business representatives and start-ups registered to the event. The tenth and eleventh graders of the engineering classes of Klaipėda Baltic Gymnasium became the youngest participants of the event.

The teams were assisted by 14 mentors from Vilnius and Klaipeda Universities, Vilnius Tech, the Center for Physical and Technological Sciences and other institutions, experts from Poland, as well as the Swedish Blue Science Park and Blekinge University of Technology. Participants also had an opportunity to cunsult with the representatives from the business organizations – Schneider Electric, Omega Technology.

According to the decision of the commission consisting of mentors and the head of Klaipeda State Seaport Authority Mr. Algis Latakas, the teams from Kaunas University of Applied Sciences, Germany and the UAE were recognized as the strongest after 12 final presentations.
 

Lithuanians were awarded for the generated solution of the quay condition monitoring system using sensors. Representatives of the Universities of Rostock and Wismar (“Baltic Merchants” team) – for a drone solution that help in monitoring and eliminating polluting spillage, the team for Amity University in Dubai  were awarded for an innovative container monitoring solution.

In cooperation with Klaipeda State Seaport Authority, the event was organized for the second time by Klaipeda Science and Technology Park, Science, Innovation and Technology Agency (MITA), Lithuanian Maritime Cluster, organisation Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area and business incubator “Starter”. Portathon Baltic 2020 was also supported by international projects Smart Up BSR, Secmar and Connect 2 Small Ports.