Often seen as a stagnated industry, the ports and shipping industry is now waking up to the challenges they face, and the new opportunities based on technology that is in their reach. Their importance in the geo-spatial economy is now as important as it was in the Silk Route Map.
Why is the ports revolution happening now?
Pollution: It is, unsurprisingly, the biggest motivator towards the necessity to innovate in this area. Although it has been banned in every other industry, the shipping industry is still allowed dangerous low-grade, high-sulfur fuels (cheaper than low-sulfur fuels) – it produces 13% of the world’s sulfur emissions and 15% of nitrogen oxides.
Regulation: Health is the main concern behind the International Maritime Organization’s decision to slash the permitted sulfur content in ships’ fuel from 3.5 to 0.5 percent. It is estimated that shipping’s cheap fuels cause around 400,000 premature deaths a year through heart and lung diseases and asthma in 14 million children, and the use of cleaner fuels could reduce these number by half.
Ocean protection: The world has awakened to the destruction of our oceans and maritime life, and its implications in the economy.
Maritime accidents: the need for using technology to reduce and extinguish maritime accidents that result in the loss of money, life and maritime species.
Three big innovation trends emerging
Autonomous shipping
The biggest impact of tech in shipping will have to do with the automation of shipping and autonomous ships. 78% of maritime professionals expect the first autonomous ships in the next 10 years and 56% believe that autonomous ships will be commonly deployed in merchant shipping in the next 11 to 20 years.
Autonomous shipping would bring great benefits to the industry: they could serve isolated islands, inhospitable routes navigated and remote areas accessed, much of it with diminished risk to seafarers. And since 80% of maritime accidents are the result of human error, autonomous shipping would be a safer solution than crewed shipping.
Ports of the future
It’s safe to say that the ports industry is no longer a stagnated one. Ports are becoming hubs connecting sea and land and striving for efficiency, supporting customers, promoting frictionless trade and enabling highly efficient processes for cargo movement. The goal is clear: to maximize efficiency and support international supply chains.
“Modern ports have become multimodal distribution megahubs which link sea, river, canal, road, rail and air transport routes, vital for international trade and linchpins for the global economy.”
Racounter.net
Digital & Robotics
Digitization in its many forms will be a key asset of the revolution happening in ports and shipping. Data, information and how it’s handled will be at the core of the way ports operate in the future.
Not only robotics will take physical tasks away from humans (directing them towards more safe and high skilled jobs), they will also embark on tasks that cannot be undertaken by humans (deep-sea exploring, for example).
Complex systems of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to collect data around tidal streams, wind strength and visibility, will help reduce vessel waiting times and automatically guide crewless ships. The availability of such data-driven analytics increases operational efficiency by improving tactical decisions. Further uses of such technology include providing shippers with greater visibility into market and pricing trends and helping minimize the dramatic boom-and-bust cycles that have traditionally plagued the industry.
The importance of the Blue Economy
The revolution in ports and shipping is closely connected to the desire to drive the blue economy. The blue economy represents the exploitation of ocean resources and preservation of the marine environment for economic growth. According to the Foresight Future of the Sea Report, the gross value added of the blue economy is projected to double to $3 trillion by 2030. This value is linked to industries such as trade, tourism, aquaculture and renewable energy.
The benefits of this growth are important to sea connected countries: the creation of jobs, reducing poverty and building resilience against environmental challenges, like natural disasters and climate change.
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Like we mentioned in our last article, Circular Economy aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value, at all times. The way to do this is to focus on the principals of the model, commonly known as the “7 R’s” of circular economy.
Rethink
Re-thinking business models and solutions at every level to be mindful of resource use and waste production. The sharing economy is proof that ownership of material is dropping, making for fewer materials used. Businesses like IKEA are already looking into renting business models.
At home: Rethink your consumption and evaluate if you really need that purchase – Refusing to consume what you don’t need to.
Reduce
Reduce consumption of energy and materials by applying lean design principles and producing products that are made to last.
At home: Reduce your consumption of energy by switching to low-consumption appliances, turning off unused appliances, and reducing your consumption to a “need only” basis. Invest in quality clothing, with ethically sourced materials, that will last you longer.
Re-use
Reuse products by transferring them to another user. The marketplaces like eBay have already taken hold on consumers’ markets and it’s starting to be used in industries as well.
At home: Sell the products you no longer use to other users and consider purchasing second-hand instead of brand new. Find new uses for products (old bottles can be used as flower vases!).
Repair
Repair components and parts so that products can be used longer by the user. With the slow-down of throw-away consumption, consumers will be thinking about purchasing products that last and the “repair” business will get a boost.
At home: Consider repairing small appliances, like toasters, instead of purchasing new ones when the old ones fail. Invest in quality clothing and take pieces to mended if needed.
Refurbish
To achieve circular economy, businesses can look into recovering and refurbishing old products to be sold again or transformed in new products.
At home: Upcycle old products by giving them new life: recover old furniture and give it a new life with new paint, re-use old pieces of clothing by sewing a transforming them into updated models.
Recover
Recover embedded energy from non-recyclable waste material where feasible. Non-recyclable waste may at least be converted into energy through waste-to-energy processes such as combustion and gasification.
Recycle
Recycle materials or resources by disassembling components and separating parts.
At home: Separate and recycle!
Now that you know the 7 R’s, we challenge you into picking one and changing something according to the principle! Let us know what you did by tagging us on social media: @beta_i
CardioID’s goal was to produce a technology that would allow changing of routines of authentication and biometric identification of users and they did it by monitoring the heart signals. Each one of us has a heartbeat or a cardiac morphology that is unique – like a fingerprint.
CardioID’s core team, all comprised of electrotechnical engineers, first came into Beta-i’s fold when they participated in the first Lisbon Challenge. When the Beta-i’s team took the challenges of Smart Open Lisboa to them, they didn’t hesitate to put in their contributions towards better mobility in the city. They implemented their product CardioWheel: an Advanced Driver Assistance System that acquires the electrocardiogram (ECG) from the driver’s hands to continuously detect drowsiness, cardiac health problems, and biometric identity recognition.
We spoke with André Lourenço, one of the co-founders, about their path to the perfect product and their participation in SOL Mobility.
ReThink: What was your goal when you started CardioID?
André Lourenço: We had an ambitious goal – to have a base technology that could be applied to multiple scenarios. So we thought that authentication using the heartbeat could change our way of interacting with technology – from cell phones, computers, gaming consoles… anything where you can use your hands – we could identify the person and personalize the experience.
We talked with a lot of people but there wasn’t a go-to-market for that technology at the time – although we do hold the patent of the intellectual property – so we had to develop the technology further, to fit market needs. Because of our science background, we had a solution and we were trying to find the problem when usually it is the other way around.
RT: Is this how you got to your product, CardioWheel?
AL: Exactly! As CardioID evolved, we were looking for a market and we had always thought there was potential in the automotive industry, giving the user experience and the inherent problems of driving. So we started making changes to focus on the automotive industry.
RT: Did you change your vision to adapt to the market?
AL: Everything connected to the more operational side of the business was essential to make the product more marketable. Fleets and the managers are looking for lowering costs – those are the pains of a businessman. So, we had to integrate our base technology in a bigger idea that allows for optimization of a fleet.
But we really think this technology can make a difference and better our lives – there’s still so many car accidents. We know there are autonomous cars coming, but that’s not happening tomorrow. CardioID still maintains humans in command of cars but enhances our experience to be safer and smoother. But that is just one thing.
We believe this technology can go much further than cars.
RT: In which industries do you see CardioID in next?
AL: We have a base technology that is algorithms. We also made some hardware because it didn’t exist at the time. So we basically have a technology that can measure signals and process them locally, and that can be applied in anything. Namely, in the area of critical facilities and monitoring of “lone workers” – someone who has to climb a high voltage pole or inspect a pipeline, or other dangerous environments, by himself. Our tech can be embedded in a t-shirt or a band, and the process of analysis of fatigue and stress can be added. We can have these signals monitored by others or by the person themselves – giving him an awareness of his own conditions.
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We saw immediately a slew of companies that we’d been trying to work with, giving that our product was ready to market. We needed a connection to them and SOL accomplished it very well.
RT: Why did you decide to join SOL Mobility? What were the main attractions the program had for you?
AL: The main attraction was the industry that was involved. We saw immediately a slew of companies that we’d been trying to work with, giving that our product was ready to market. We needed a connection to them and SOL accomplished it very well. It was an interesting deck of entities and companies, and we especially liked that several of them had national reach, even though the programme is “Smart Open Lisboa”.
RT: How was the process of working with a utility?
AL: Ferrovial in particular opened up for us, and they have been a great partner. We’re very happy to be working with them. We’ve made more contacts that are still on-going. It opened up a lot of doors for us that we are now developing relationships with. The programme aims to establish procedures and create visible milestones for both sides and it was really effective. The pilot was a real deployment of our technology with a big enough scale – that was important to us.
RT: You partnered up with Ferrovial – what is the pilot about?
AL: We are monitoring the whole driving experience of Ferrovial’s fleet. We’re using not only CardioWheel – which analyses the physiological signals of the driver – but also monitoring the car and the driving and the road itself. We applied complementary technological units to have a system that allows optimizing the costs of the operation and simultaneously greatly improve the safety of the driver.
It’s still early for the results, but we’ve observed some interesting things already. We have several driver profiles, that consider region, type of vehicle, driver’s physiology, route and incidents of the job. For example, there’s a big correlation between the number of incidents (weather, etc) and vehicle consumption.
RT: What were the biggest advantages you took from being in Smart Open Lisboa?
AL: The biggest advantage was the structure of the pilots and the contacts with the companies involved in the programme. The fact that we had all the entities and companies connected to mobility in the same room was very interesting – just having all the players in mobility there brought up ideas that connected with each other. That was a major plus.
RT: Would you recommend Smart Open Lisboa to other startups?
AL: Yes! There’s still so much to do in mobility. We’ve had so many ideas, we wish we had the time to it ourselves. But to take advantage of Smart Open Lisboa, a startup must be mature enough to develop the pilots and apply the technology on a national scale, that’s important to take notice.
You can take a look at CardioID’s pilot presentation below:
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To celebrate Valentine’s day, CBInsights shared a map of the most romantic tech startups. We’ve taken a look at the list and we’ll show how to create a perfect Valentine’s day!
Start the day with a surprise
Flowers are a staple of romance! Surprise your significant other with a lovely bouquet in the morning, even if you’re not with them (that’s even better)! Go for a romantic (and sustainably sourced) design with Urbanstems or go all in with a Bloomon subscription.
Express your love
Valentine’s day is not the day to be shy. Say what you feel with a surprising pop-up card from LovePop, a unique artistic design from Minted, or go digital with a customized card from Paperless Post.
Sweeten the deal
If your loved one has a sweet tooth this is a must! Go with ethically sourced chocolate from SweetRiot or a perfect gift truffle from Love Cocoa.
Get ready in style
If you want to look your best, accessorize! Get a sweet deal on a pre-owned luxury watch in Chronext or rent your dream jewelry at Flont.
Have a fantastic meal
Nothing makes a date like a wonderful meal with your significant other. Make a reservation with Resy, or find the best restaurant recommendations from your friends with Misk.
Open up a bottle of wine
Don’t know much about wines? No problem, Vivino app will let you know what you need about that bottle. And if you’re a connoisseur, VinFolio will get you access to curated collections.
Spice it up
Create exciting moments in bed with Vibease’s app-controlled vibrator, or get an Unbound subscription to keep the passion (and experimentation) alive.
Ready to take the next step?
Start planning your wedding with Zola, and build your wedding website with Joy.
In a Long-distance relationship?
Work on feeling closer with tech: Watch a romantic movie together in real-time with Rabbit and fall asleep listening to each other’s heartbeat with Little Riot.
Single?
Meet your next Valentine with a dating app: look for meaningful conversations via Coffee Meets Bagel or just the closest person, with Happn.
A new paradigm that allows infinite growth with finite resources
As we mentioned in our Consumer Trends Report, the Circular Economy is one of the trends that will be taking over the conversations. Don’t know much about it? Let’s do an overview of the basics of Circular Economy!
Why Do We Need Circular Economy?
The linear economy is not sustainable anymore, as we are currently experiencing:
Resources depletion: Over the last four decades, the global use of materials almost tripled, from 26.7 billion tonnes in 1970 to 92.1 billion tonnes in 2017.2 Not only has material use been increasing, but it has also been accelerating and is forecast to grow to between 170 and 184 billion tonnes by 2050.1
Waste production: “Throwaway culture” has been having an impact on our planet, especially our oceans. In 2016 alone, the world generated 242 million tonnes of plastic waste – equivalent to about 24 trillion plastic bottles – and that is just 12% of the total waste generated each year2.
Global Warming: Climate change and material use are closely linked: around 62% of global greenhouse gas emissions (excluding those from land use and forestry) is released during the extraction, processing, and manufacturing of goods to serve society’s needs1.
Demographic Explosion: In August 2018, the total population of the world exceeded 7.63 billion people, and this number is continuing to grow each day, driven by the economic growth of emerging countries.
What is the Circular Economy?
A circular economy is an economic system aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of resources. This regenerative approach is in contrast to the traditional linear economy, which has a ‘take, make, dispose’ model of production.
The Circular Economy is all about business – economy has always been about how we manage scarcity and resources efficiently. In this sense, we should look into the earth’s resources as finite and design structure to be sustainable, share resources and re-use everything: design everything integrated into a bigger circle and closing the loop for every piece of material produced.
Restorative by design
The Circular Economy is restorative by design: it aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value, at all times. It’s about maximizing efficiency in all aspects – it’s pure economy.
Even though this system is compatible with environmental causes, it doesn’t really dwell on guilt. It’s about innovation and integrating everything into a bigger purpose: individual action is nice, but cooperation downstream and upstream can really leverage the power of small changes.
Businesses don’t have to choose between profits and doing good for the world – because if they do it right, they’ll be doing both.
What is driving CE?
Regulation: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, are just two examples of regulations that will push forward innovation and working in the circular economy.
Eco Trends: Consumers’ are more connected than ever to causes and to brands who support their convictions (we talked about this in our Consumer Trends Report), so businesses will be increasing efforts to diminish their footprint.
Business Opportunity: The world economy is only 9% circular. Filling the circularity gap redefines markets and creates tremendous business opportunities. It is estimated that $1.8 trillion is the worth of wealth that could be created by unleashing circularity.
Get more information on Circular Economy and keep up with our updates: subscribe to our newsletter.
SOLshare came into Free Electrons programme with a bold mission: to create networks, share solar electricity & eliminate poverty. And they actually proved they can do it – that’s how they became the winners of a $200.000 prize of Free Electrons World’s Best Energy Startup 2018.
Who is SOLshare
A Bangladeshi social enterprise founded by Sebastien Groh in November 2015, it is now a diverse group of people working from Bangladesh, Bogotá and Berlin, to change the way people consume and pay for energy around the globe.
SOLshare Team – image by SOLshare
What does SOLshare do
SOLshare is bringing sustainable, affordable energy access for low-income rural people Bangladesh. Their decentralized peer-to-peer microgrids deliver solar power to households and businesses and enable them to trade their (excess) electricity for profit.
The SOLbox
How are they doing it? Well, they created a peer-to-peer energy trading platform on blockchain technology.
Bangladesh, where more 10 million people are cut off from the electric power system, was already investing in domestic solar panels called Solar Home System (SHS). SOLshare created the SOLbox – a bi-directional DC electricity meter that enables peer-to-peer electricity trading, smart grid management, remote monitoring, mobile money payment and data analytics.
Through the Solbox, consumers can choose whether they wish to be a buyer of energy or a seller (if they have a solar panel installed), and even sell energy to homes that do not have a solar panel system installed.
By connecting several SHS to each other as well as to homes without electricity, the nano-grid can provide a consistent energy network for an entire village.
The plug-and-play nature of the technology allows the grid to grow dynamically from the ‘bottom-up’ as more users can dynamically connect over time.
The data is stored in the network and the digital platform integrates mobile money infrastructure for remote payment (payments are processed through a phone application via credit or debit) and lockout and provides data analytics and grid management services.
SOLshare’s journey through Free Electrons
Coming into Free Electrons, SOLshare had a lot to offer: with their nano-grids, they could provide to utilities certainty, with their distributed billing they were able to offer controlled systems, and also could provide distributed storage. By partnering up with global utilities, SOLshare had a chance to pilot their products in a long-reaching plan.
They didn’t waste any time partnering up and worked on pilots with both Innogy and Tepco, for a donation platform (Energy SOLidarity Token), where a donor can choose individual users or a predefined group of users (like a village) to donate energy to.
By the end phase of Free Electrons, SOLshare had raised a $1.66M A-series round of investment from utilities EDP and Innogy, and IIX (Impact Investment Exchange).
SOLshare wins Free Electrons World’s Best Energy Startup 2018
Leaving an impact
The peer-to-peer solar grids are changing lives in Bangladesh. They are reaching out to isolated, poor communities in Bangladesh and empowering them to upgrade their lives with the use of power in agricultural and day-to-day tasks and even turning them into business people by providing energy to their neighbors.
SOLshare pioneers a micro-energy transition model 3.0 by interconnecting solar home systems in peer-to-peer networks, monetizing excess solar energy along the value chain in real time with mobile money and empowering communities to earn a direct income from the sun.
They are opening up a path that can be used by utilities globally and the future of clean energy.
First Bangladeshi Startup to make it in the 2019 Global Cleantech 100
In its 10th edition, The Global Cleantech 100 is an annual guide to the leading companies and themes in sustainable innovation. It features the private, independent, for-profit companies best positioned to solve tomorrow’s clean technology challenges. SOLshare made it into the list, proving once again it is one of the most innovative and promising ideas in cleantech and that it’s best positioned to solve tomorrow’s clean technology challenges.
Join the Free Electrons community
If you too have a project that could change the energy industry, apply to Free Electrons – the leading global energy startup accelerator is looking for the brightest startups in the Energy scene to partner up with global utilities in accelerating change in this industry.
