Itaqui Participates in 8th Port Innovation Caravan in Maceió

The Port of Itaqui participated in the eighth edition of the Port Innovation Caravan in Maceió (Alagoas). Promoted by the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor), in collaboration with the National Waterway Transportation Agency (Antaq), the initiative brings together port authorities, educational and research institutions, startups, and the productive sector around a common agenda: to make innovation a structural element of the operation of Brazilian ports.

Itaqui was represented by the Director of Institutional Relations, Cristiana Duailibe, and the Innovation Manager, Gabriel Mateucci. For two days, both attended technical visits, participated in thematic panels, and led strategic meetings focused on advancing the research, development, and innovation (R&D&i) agenda at the Maranhão port.

The Caravan's program covered some of the most crucial topics for the future of the sector: sustainability and energy transition in the maritime environment, industrial property applied to ports, professional training as an innovation driver, presentations of port startup projects, and, above all, the financing mechanisms that make technological projects possible.

The discussion panel on fundraising for innovation in the port sector was moderated by the port's Innovation Manager, in a round table that brought together representatives from the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI), the Financier of Studies and Projects (Finep), the Port of Açu, and Sebrae to analyze access to public resources allocated to research and development.

Beyond the panels, participation generated concrete collaborations. Duailibe and Mateucci met with the Ministry of Ports and Airports to further develop the complex's innovation agenda, and with Cesar (Innovation Center linked to Porto Digital in Recife), with the aim of structuring R&D projects that the Port of Itaqui intends to implement through Embrapii (Brazilian Company of Industrial Research and Innovation).

According to Cristiana Duailibe, Director of Institutional Relations at EMAP, innovation has ceased to be a secondary issue to become an integral part of the Port of Itaqui's strategy. "Participating in the Caravan is reaffirming this commitment and, above all, building partnerships and funding avenues that transform research into concrete solutions for port operations," she stated.

The presence in the Caravan is not an isolated event, but part of a trajectory that the Port of Itaqui has been consolidating. This national and itinerant initiative seeks to spread a culture of innovation, foster R&D, and strengthen public ports, and Itaqui is among the complexes that not only participate but also contribute to building this route: in 2025, the port hosted one of the project's editions in São Luís.

What underpins this performance is its own innovation program, which has transformed research into applied solutions for operations. Through the Port Innovation Residency, the port has already trained groups dedicated to digital transformation; the second group alone, which finished in December 2025, delivered 14 projects, five of them based on Artificial Intelligence.

From this cycle emerged tools such as Mar_IA, the exclusive corporate virtual assistant of the Port of Itaqui; Maré Certa, which uses AI for operational data forecasting; and KPI Ferrovias, an analytical system focused on railway logistics management. In January 2026, the third edition of the residency began, continuing the cycle.

Investing in knowledge also translates into direct support for science. In June 2026, EMAP launched the 4th Call for Proposals for Research Support, allocating USD 680,000 to researchers from public and private scientific and technological institutions (STIs) in Maranhão, in a front that complements programs to retain local talent and develop low-cost solutions for port bottlenecks.

These actions have already led to concrete results, from operational AI applications to publications such as the book "Global Climate Change: Risks and Perspectives at the Port of Itaqui," demonstrating that, in Itaqui, investment in innovation translates into development for Maranhão.