During the past decade, the number of startups in the innovation ecosystem has grown to 60. That means that RDM is now full. However, as startups grow, they need more space for innovation in the long term. The Authority of the Port of Rotterdam has therefore started with the development of M4Havens, opposite to the RDM site.
Bart Kuipers, senior researcher port economics at Erasmus School of Economics, values the ecosystem created at RDM. ‘The entire port is an ecosystem, which in turn is comprised of smaller ecosystems. The innovation ecosystem is an example of this.
Innovation is needed to guarantee that Rotterdam is still the most relevant port in ten years’ time’, stated Kuipers, referring to the growing size of container ships. This growth will lead to congestion in the port. ‘Innovation is needed to resolve the problems that flow from this. My favourite innovation is Pronto, the tool that predicts vessel arrival times.’
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Read the entire article on Port of Rotterdam, d.d. 5 July 2019