PortSkill 4.0: Successful project completion strengthens the future of Germany’s port work
How are digitalisation and automation changing the world of work in Germany’s seaports? And which skills do employees need in order to actively shape this transformation? These questions have been the focus of the PortSkill 4.0 project over the past four years. The project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMV) as part of the IHATEC II programme.
Today, representatives from politics, industry and the social partners involved in the project came together at the Digital Training Center (DTC) in Hamburg to celebrate the successful completion of the project and to present its results.
Digital skills for the port of the future
The PortSkill 4.0 project examined how operational, administrative and technical job profiles in Germany’s seaports are changing as a result of advancing digitalisation and automation. The socio-economic impacts of this transformation were analysed in order to develop concrete recommendations for action for companies and social partners and to support the change process in a holistic way. On this basis, innovative learning and training formats were developed to prepare port workers specifically for the requirements of an increasingly digitalised and automated working environment.
The training modules developed were tested in practice together with employees. These included training courses on remote control, robotics, process control of AGVs and storage cranes, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality as a learning technology. These offerings are complemented by interactive learning formats such as the adventure game “Port Terminal” and the learning nuggets Harbour World 4.0.
Under the coordination of ma-co maritime competence centre, HHLA Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, BLG LOGISTICS GROUP AG & CO. KG and Patient Zero Games worked together on the project. The trade union ver.di and the Central Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS) were involved as associated social partners.
Voices from the project consortium
“With PortSkill 4.0, we have jointly created the necessary framework for a transformation process in the German port industry that is supported by the social partners,” said Torben Seebold, Chief Human Resources Officer at HHLA, at the closing event. “Highly qualified employees are a decisive key to maintaining and expanding the competitiveness of our terminals. With PortSkill 4.0, we have reached an important milestone in this respect.”
“The results of PortSkill 4.0 demonstrate how innovative learning concepts can actively support change in our ports,” said Ulrike Riedel, Chief Human Resources Officer at BLG. “For us as an employer, it is crucial that qualification is understood not as a reaction, but as a driver of innovation. Close cooperation between companies, education partners and social partners is a key success factor.”
“Digitalisation must not happen over the heads of employees – it has to be shaped together,” emphasised Maren Ulbrich from ver.di. “PortSkill 4.0 has shown that continuing education, employee participation and good working conditions can go hand in hand. Only in this way can a fair and sustainable transformation succeed, from which everyone benefits.”
Modern learning environment: the Digital Training Center
A key outcome and flagship project is the Digital Training Center (DTC), which combines state-of-the-art learning technologies with practice-oriented training for port operations. In the future, training courses on new port procedures, digitalised processes and innovative technologies will be offered here – ranging from simulation environments to game-based learning formats using robotics and artificial intelligence.
From now on, employees will be trained there to operate the first remotely controlled container cranes in Hamburg. In doing so, the DTC makes a significant contribution to continuous skills development in a sector undergoing rapid change.
Outlook
With the completion of PortSkill 4.0, a pioneering project comes to an end – one that, for the first time within the IHATEC framework, placed employee qualification at the centre of technological development. The approaches developed will now feed into the follow-up project PortKIDialog+2035, which examines the impact of artificial intelligence on port work and continues the dialogue between social partners.
Funding note
PortSkill 4.0 was funded under the IHATEC II – Innovative Port Technologies funding programme by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMV).