A major event for Livorno, which, in less than a month’s time, will host the annual edition of the Espo Conference, the top initiative for European ports. Scheduled for 23rd and 24th May, it is expected to have over 300 participants from all over Europe.
The program offers a full immersion in the port and logistics world.
The Silk Road, the tariff war, digitalization, port terminal automation processes, climate change: these are the game changers that are taking European ports towards a new world.
These will be the topics that experts and institutional representatives will discuss over a two-day debate divided into five different sessions.
What are the new technologies? Who are the key players? How to prepare for new environmental and commercial challenges? What is the future of port work? In addition, what do the Port Authorities need to play a leading role and not just a minor one?
And, finally, what to expect from the new European Commission, given that the ESPO conference will be held in Livorno more or less on the same day as the European elections for the renewal of Members representing the EU Member States in the European Parliament in Brussels?
And, finally, what to expect from the new European Commission, given that the ESPO conference will be held in Livorno more or less on the same day as the European elections for the renewal of Members representing the EU Member States in the European Parliament in Brussels?
These are just some of the questions that guest speakers will try to give tangible answers to.
The event will be hosted at Goldoni, Livorno’s only important historical theater, which survived damage caused by bombing during World War II and was restored in the late 1990s.
Important names will take the stage, starting with the chairman of Espo, Eamonn O’Really and Daniele Rossi, and concluding with the leading figure of the Association of Italian ports, Assoporti,that deserves great merit for the coordination and organization of the initiative.
Numerous experts have been invited, including Martin Stopford, president of Clarkson Research; Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association; Matt Stone, associate partner at the international consulting firm Mc Kinsey;
The speech by the university professor Theo Notteboom, who will talk about the role that ports will have to play in the new world is eagerly awaited.
There will also be representatives from European institutions, such as Pawel Wojciechowski, coordinator of the TEN-T corridor Rhine-Alps and international bodies such as Mike di Bernardo, marketing director of the port of Los Angeles.
Among the Italian guest speakers, in addition to many Port Network Authority presidents, the president of Assiterminal and vice president of Confetra, Marco Conforti.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Danilo Toninelli, is also expected to be present at the Espo Conference. In a recent interview he gave to Port News (www.portnews.it)Toninelli spoke of the Espo initiative as an important acknowledgement for Livorno, the first Italian port city to host this type of conference on ports.
“I think it is extremely significant that an organization like this has chosen our country and a port like Livorno to hold its annual conference, which is among the most prestigious events on the port theme,” said Toninelli. Moreover, he added: “Our contribution can certainly be substantial, given that Italy, by its natural vocation, has always been accustomed to dealing with the key issues of the conference.”
The head of the department in Piazzale di Porta Pia stressed how important it is to act locally but think on a global level: “The challenges for our ports are the same as those dictated by the agenda of the conference, appropriately declined: climate change is already affecting our public policies, I refer to the investments we are making for a green revolution in all areas of transport. The geopolitical crises have seen us at the centre of mass migratory phenomena of epoch-making importance. All this, together with our particular geographical conformation, makes us, in my opinion, fully capable of taking up and overcoming the challenges that await us”.
Translation by Giles Foster
