“Our experience in the accelerator has been very motivating and fruitful”
Javier Jiménez de la Jara is head software developer in Smart Shipping . Despite his youth (Cádiz, 1999), he has been an outstanding student of Computer Engineering at the University of Cádiz (UCA), which he began working on projects before finishing his university education. Master in artificial intelligence from the International University of Valencia, he is currently studying for his doctorate at the UCA.
Javier is a firm defender of the multiple possibilities that Cádiz and the province have to be a benchmark in the Blue Economy thanks to its important maritime industry and its great natural landscapes. And to this he helps the Smartshipping project, the Incubazul startup that promotes values such as the reduction of emissions and fuel savings in economically turbulent times.
Javier acts as a spokesperson for the initiative in the interview that Incubazul gives him.
What is your role within the company?
I dedicate myself to developing the web application and all the cloud infrastructure necessary to be able to carry out simulations that serve as a demonstration. In general, the team is quite technical, but we share the work related to other areas such as marketing. That is why I am also in charge of preparing presentations, organizing documents or designing the corporate image. I guess this is common in startups having small teams.
What does your value proposition consist of?
SmartShipping is a weather routing tool, capable of calculating the route that consumes the least fuel between two points in the ocean. Depending on the route and the conditions, you can save between 2% and 8% of fuel. In this way, in addition to reducing emissions, it saves money and improves the safety of the crew, avoiding dangerous areas.
How does your solution contribute to the sustainability of marine resources?
The International Maritime Organization demands that emissions be reduced by 40% by the year 2030, since the consumption of fuel emits a multitude of harmful substances, both for the atmosphere and for the ocean. As I explained before, the provincial objective of SmartShipping is the reduction of fuel consumption.
What aspects differentiate you from your competition?
Working with meteorological data includes a great deal of uncertainty, because most of it is forecast. In that aspect we have a great mathematical knowledge to try to reduce it. On the other hand, each boat that you want to use has different characteristics, which directly affect consumption. That's why we do specific simulations for each one. In addition, we are working on monitoring the ships, to obtain first-hand data and make the system more robust and accurate.
How do you think technology helps to enhance your solution?
Technology is the main branch of our project. Among many other things we apply: Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Systems, Optimization Techniques, etc,…
Have you come into contact with potential clients?
We have contacted different companies to make a pilot. It will help us to validate our tool and to be able to approach potential clients, which could be these same companies.
How did you find out about the Incubazul acceleration program?
A colleague from telephone contacted us who knew about our project and who thought we would fit into the incubator. And so it was, since then we have been working with Incubazul.
How is your experience in the accelerator?
Very motivating and fruitful. From the beginning they are helping us in everything we need. They adapt perfectly to the needs of the project, depending on the phase in which it is located. In our
The case was already quite advanced, so they immediately advised us which congresses to attend and began to give us interesting contacts.
What areas of mentoring do you think can bring you more value?
Right now we are in a sales phase, so the most interesting are: financial, legal and business model.
What would you say to other entrepreneurs who want to launch their project based on the blue economy?
At first it seems like a world and something impossible, but with the help of entities such as Incubazul, the path begins to emerge. As long as you are clear about your goal, you have to go for it and if they can help you
achieve better than better.
Do you want to tell us something else?
Mainly, we are very grateful to both Incubazul and the Free Zone, for giving us this opportunity and supporting us. In addition to motivating everyone who wants to undertake and learn, through
blue economy projects
The Smartshipping team is made up of:
David Gómez-Ullate Oteiza (CEO): He is the one who devised the project and is in charge of directing it. He is the main image of it and right now he is also in charge of leading the conversations with the different possible collaborators.
Victor Gallego Alcala (Head of Research): It is in charge of directing the different researchers who collaborate with us, as well as deciding the lines of research and development to follow.
Daniel Precious Garcelan (Head Data Scientist): Responsible for developing the different functionalities that integrate data and Artificial Intelligence. It also integrates interesting solutions provided by other partners.
Javier Jiménez de la Jara (Head Software Engineer): He is dedicated to developing the web application and all the necessary cloud infrastructure, to be able to carry out simulations that serve as a demonstration.
If you also want to be one of the accelerated projects in the initiative, you can sign up here.
This High Technology Incubator Project for the promotion of innovation and technology transfer to microSMEs in the blue economy sector in Andalusia “[BlueEcoIncuba x Logistical]Tech = ZONA BASE – INCUBAZUL 2.0” is 80% financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the Pluriregional Operational Program of Spain FEDER 2014-2020 OP. “A way of making Europe” within axis 3: Improving the Competitiveness of SMEs, Thematic Objective 3 Improving the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, and investment priority 3 Promotion of entrepreneurship, in particular, facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas, and promoting the creation of new companies, also through incubators.”
