Industry 4.0, new technologies, climate change… there are many future challenges that could affect the work carried out by professionals in the maritime and fishing sector. To update and improve their skills, the Vigo Port Authority presented a training project this Monday that includes different free courses so that professionals can renew their knowledge in relation to social, environmental, technological and industrial changes. In this initiative, the Port of Vigo has the support of the General Directorate of Fisheries Development, the Campus do Mar, the Campus of International Excellence of the Sea (Andalusia) and the Port Authority of Huelva, since the actions will be directed to both autonomous communities to offer a real vision of the needs for maritime-port professional improvement in each of the territories. The ultimate purpose of the program is to generate training aligned with global changes and, in particular, with the Port of Vigo’s blue growth strategy.
The official presentation that took place this Monday was attended by the president of the APV, Enrique López Veiga; the rector of the University of Vigo, Salustiano Mato; the director general of Fisheries Development of the Xunta, Susana Rodríguez, and the director of the Port Authority, Beatriz Colunga. The head of the Port explained that the purpose of this initiative is to respond to the “main needs” conveyed by the agents, mainly referring to industry 4.0 and ICT. “We seek to provide a quality training offer to update the knowledge of the staff, because we must assume that we have to lose old practices that no longer adapt to modern marketing”. In this sense, he defended the need to bet on new technologies in order not to lose competitiveness. Along the same lines, the rector of the University, Salustiano Mato, pointed to training as “the best way to visualize that the loss of the jobs we know due to the incidence of new technologies encourages us to be able to anticipate the jobs that are coming”. Mato also highlighted the importance of the alliance between Campus do Mar and the Port of Vigo, which allowed the creation of “an innovation ecosystem” that provides content to the blue growth strategy that has opened a path with great possibilities for building the future.
After the presentation, a round table took place in which the agents involved and linked to the maritime port sector delved into the needs and challenges to achieve professional improvement and thus contribute to the development of the blue economy. In this debate, the head of talent recruitment at Campus do Mar, Elsa Vázquez, participated, among others, who spoke about the role of the University in the development of blue careers.
The first course, on industry 4.0
The training actions, which will be free of charge, will be carried out throughout 2018 and thanks to them more than 165 people will receive specialized training and more than 250 specific advice. The program will focus on a triple perspective: on the one hand, promoting professional qualifications; on the other, generating quality jobs and, thirdly, enhancing the competitiveness of the maritime-port economy from social and environmental sustainability. The first course, focused on industry 4.0, will start on May 2 and is aimed at management and middle management with decision-making skills and linked to the port and fishing sector. Teaching will extend throughout the months of May and June with the aim of providing participants with knowledge, skills and practical tools based on the incorporation of new technologies, for the adaptation of industrial and operational processes to technological, environmental and regulatory changes. The registration period for the course is open, the number of places is limited and registration is free.
Other training and advisory actions
Two other courses are planned, related on the one hand to climate change and management tools such as the carbon footprint or clean energy and, on the other, to specific training in port operator, where, through simulators, it is intended to train in the handling of technologically advanced machinery.
All courses will include, in a transversal manner, a sustainability module in which concepts such as clean energy, environmental management and tools that allow efficiency in minimizing the environmental impact of maritime-port operations will be worked on. In parallel, an advice line has also been designed through which the improvement of the employability and professional qualification of workers in the maritime-fishing and port sector is promoted. To this end, individualized advice will be provided through face-to-face, telematic and telephone assistance and with the holding of specific conferences.
Source: DUVI
