- The 12 most important ports of the Maghribian country and more than a thousand agents will share the system which will act as a single point of contact
- Indra-Portel Consortium consolidates as a supplier of this type of platforms with important international references
Indra, in consortium with Portel and in cooperation with Barcelona Port Authority, will design and start up the platform that will allow Moroccos port community agents to interact electronically. It will speed up port-of-call management, goods handling and passenger traffic, thus improving the performance of Moroccos logistics port network. The contract was awarded by Agene Nationale des Ports and amounts to € 4 M.
The consortium will implement the PortNet platform in Casablanca's port, the country's most important in terms of goods and traffic and it will be backed up by a support centre to guarantee non-stop performance.
With the system giving service to the country's 12 main airports, more than one thousand port agents (port authorities, harbour master's offices, consignees, customs, health authorities, exporters and importers, banks, etc.) will be able to exchange information electronically in an effective way.
This way, a single point of contact will be created for port-related issues, that is, a node which will require the information to be submitted once. It can be accessed through the website or through the Electronic Data Interchange application (EDI). Then the system will direct the information to the organ in charge automating work flow and managing approvals while observing procedures and regulations.
All this will drastically reduce moorage time as well as the time the cargo will spend at the terminal. It will cut down expenses; increase the ports’ capacity and their competitiveness in international commerce, a factor which will also benefit its logistics agents.
Besides the implementation, the project includes the support services of the PortNet platform for an initial period of 24 months.
With this contract, besides the commissions in Spain, Portugal, Angola and Chile among others, Indra consolidates one of its business lines in the port sector since it is quite promising in certain geographic areas which are key to the company such as: Latin America and Maghreb.
Modernisation in Maghreb
Indra is currently involved as a technological partner in important modernisation initiatives in Maghreb, not only of infrastructures but also for the administration.
For instance, the ONCF (National Office for Railways of Morocco) recently awarded Indra and Adif the implementation of its railway management Da Vinci system-the world's most technologically advanced-to manage the whole railway network for more than € 3 M. Indra has been working with ONDA, the organ responsible for the security of air navigation in Morocco, in the modernisation of air traffic management systems, communications and training systems for air traffic controllers.
On the other hand, the National Agency of Land Registry, Cadaster and Cartography of Morocco (ANCFCC) commissioned Indra the development of a system to improve land registration management.
There are other important references in the area, such as: the implementation of air traffic management systems for Algeria, the analysis and review of Tunisia's health care model, and the implementation of Indra’s technology for Libya's main electricity company, Gecol.
Regarding security, the company has been involved in an important multinational cooperation project of Spain, Portugal, Mauritania, Senegal and Cape Verde with the purpose of establishing a satellite-based communications system called Sea Horse Network which acts as a coordinator in the fight against illegal human trafficking and drug dealing.
We should also mention another important project to be carried out in the area: the implementation of Portel’s TERMES, which deals with railway and maritime terminal management at Agadir port terminal for the next six months.
Indra
Indra is the premier Information Technology company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America. It is ranked as the second European company in its sector according to stock market capitalisation, and also the second Spanish company with the most investment in R&D. In 2008, revenues reached € 2,380 M, of which a third came from the international market. The company employs more than 29,000 professionals and has clients in more than 90 countries.
Portel
Portel specialises in the development and implementation of solutions for management and information exchange among port community agents. With a 15-year experience in the port sector, the company has implemented PCS solutions (Port Community Systems) with a single point of contact for the Spanish port system as well as terminal management systems nationally (Barcelona, Castellón, Valencia, Alicante etc.) and internationally (Colombia, Peru, Morocco).