Innovation Community
Tech Curator

Innovation Community

At homePORT, our mission is to become a central platform for the networking of active players in the Port of Hamburg and along the Elbe ‒ particularly in the field of innovation. Thanks to our network of associated companies and institutions from ports and logistic hubs worldwide, we are the central point of reference in the maritime innovation process. We are excited about the growing interest in exchanging ideas with like-minded people in Hamburg, but also in the national and international context. Our objective is to develop innovations in the maritime industry and logistics together.

We are working with stakeholders in Hamburg to develop a sustainable digitalisation strategy for the maritime and logistics industry. Our goal is to facilitate communication and idea-sharing among all relevant parties.

International #port-innovators-network (PIN) with Opentop (Port of Valencia) and The PIER (Port of Halifax).

To improve communication and collaboration, we use Slack, a standardised collaboration software for our innovation community. We are also launching a digitally networked collaboration with the Logistik-Initiative and the Digital Hub Logistics Hamburg. The innovation community helps to improve and facilitate communication and collaboration for everyone, regardless of the topic being discussed. We work together more effectively based on the Maritime Open Innovation Platform. Join us!

The Innovation Community is responsible for coordinating all activities related to the development and internationalisation of the homePORT community, as well as specific innovation projects from the community:

  • 1

    homePORT Community Development: We develop and test new formats that provide added value for the community and allow it to grow.

  • 2

    Internationalisation and best practices: We network and organise ourselves with innovation hubs from other ports in the exclusive Port Innovators Network (PIN) to provide access to knowledge, contacts and solutions across continents.

  • 3

    Innovation projects: We provide insights into funded initiatives, projects and products that have been created through collaboration within the homePORT community and offer them a stage to present their work.

Communication, exchange and networking in the #connected-river channel within the platform

Join us & become a member!

Share ideas & solutions and develop product innovations together!

You can register here
Questions? Write to us.


















      Join Hamburg's Innovation Community and benefit from the network

      Connected River:
      Connecting the Maritime Innovation Ecosystem

      We are pleased to announce the launch of the Innovation Community, which we have named Connected River. This digital neighbourhood platform is focused on ports and logistics. It acts as a digital place where interested organisations and employees can become part of an initiative, a locally anchored and globally networked open innovation platform. In line with the homePORT motto, Connected River is our digital open space where users can communicate and collaborate quickly and with ease. The concept of establishing an open innovation platform in the Port of Hamburg to facilitate and coordinate innovation and prototyping projects within the local and international maritime ecosystem is not new. With Connected River as a locally anchored and globally networked platform along the waterway, we aim to make this idea a reality. If you are interested, please register now.

      Exchange formats connect innovators across Europe

      Shaping maritime innovations together

      In line with our vision and the principle of involving maritime and logistics players in the transformation, we seek to create a community of innovators and port stakeholders who work together on solutions and are interested in cross-company knowledge transfer to jointly shape the port of the future.

      • Network with like-minded people from the maritime and logistics sector
      • Face real challenges and find solutions for them
      • Submit new topics and discuss them with experts
      • Give your innovative topics a platform and stage

      Maritime innovations: What are we up to?

      We are participating in the EU-funded Connected River project to further engage, connect and encourage collaboration among port visionaries. As a first step, we are creating a digital community for maritime and logistics innovation. In this way, we want to connect the various groups and stakeholders: from start-ups and SMEs to corporations, research institutions and public authorities. Hamburg has one of the largest and most diverse innovation ecosystems in Germany. However, there is still a lack of communication between the various clusters and hubs. We aim to address this by working with you to improve communication and collaboration.

      What is the definition of open innovation?

      We define open innovation as the process of opening up the innovation process to new stakeholders. Previously, dialogue with these stakeholders was only sporadic and event-driven. These stakeholders (e.g. customers, research institutes and universities) are integrated into the innovation process and invited to help shape it. How does this work? Through our innovation community:

      • The platform offers a joint network,
      • appropriate methods and
      • formats for networking and activation.

      One example is the public call for solutions, ideas or resources for product innovations. Additionally, identified product innovations that do not fit or do not properly fit the 3rd party can be added to the platform. Another example is the venture-client approach of GovTecHH, which is a proven and widely used method. In collaboration with the respective departments of companies, institutions and authorities, the cooperation design can lead to a pilot test. This allows the innovation approaches to be further developed and taken up by other players on the platform. To this end, interested parties and experts can work together in co-creation groups to develop the innovation further.

      You can find out more about how the community works together below.

      Workshops

      Achieving more together

      The value of knowledge is enhanced when it is shared. homePORT's innovation community offers you the opportunity to actively share your knowledge and benefit from the expertise and experience of others. Become part of the community today and take advantage of our wide range of workshops, which we regularly announce in our newsletter. Are you an expert in a field and would like to offer a workshop for the network yourself? We would be happy to hear from you. If you would like to become part of the community, please get in touch with us today.

      Events

      New impulses and inputs

      We are excited to announce that physical get-togethers are once again possible! However, we are using digital collaboration tools to exchange ideas with other members. We have developed various formats for this purpose. We look forward to interesting input, good conversations, and the development of new ideas. We are only strong together!

      Digital collaboration

      Working across organisations

      Digital collaboration is not just for start-ups and small organisations. It is now commonplace for SMEs and large companies to try out new digital tools and information and communication media and establish them as an integral part of their daily work. As a result, the way people work across organisations has changed significantly. The homePORT community would like to take advantage of this opportunity and, as a networker, ensure that collaboration between network partners is made possible.

      Why Slack?
      Maritime Open Innovation: A guide to simple collaboration.
      Data protection and security of our community is a top priority