Projects from Colombia, Spain, Peru and Ecuador lead the First Latin American Competition for Sustainable and Safe Urban Logistics (LOGUS)

The competition aims to promote high-impact solutions that contribute to the productivity and quality of the actors in the logistics ecosystem in various cities in the region to strengthen and boost it

CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, and the Latin American Network of Integrated Systems for Sustainable Urban Mobility (SIMUS), held the awards ceremony of the Latin American Contest for Sustainable and Safe Urban Logistics (LOGUS), 1st Edition 2022, for innovative initiatives and new practices in urban logistics that will generate productivity and quality impacts in the region, with the objective of promoting sustainable, safe, inclusive, productive, and integrated logistics solutions that help solve the needs faced by cities, considering the following criteria:

• Innovation and Incorporation of technologies
• Commitment to development
• Value generation
• Potential for growth and replicability

More than 20 urban logistics initiatives were nominated from 8 countries in the region: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico and Spain, representing 14 cities focused on areas such as social, environmental and gender, transport and road safety, urban development and productivity, and innovation and technology development.

The Winners

The 1st place was awarded to the Secretary of Mobility of Bogotá, Colombia for the project: SURBOX. Initiative presented in conjunction with the company of the same name to promote a Collaborative Network of Automatic Lockers for the reception of purchases in social classes with lower purchasing power. Classified in the Social, Environmental and Gender fields.

The 2nd place was awarded to the company Analítica Freight, from Gijón, Spain for the project: Freightimize. Use of basic data on the activity of urban freight distribution operators to optimise the use of public space dedicated to urban logistics, improve the match between supply and demand and move towards the sustainability of the urban ecosystem as a whole. Ranked in the field of Innovation and Technology Development.

The 3rd place was awarded to the company Recibe Fácil, Lima, Peru for the project: Recibe Fácil. Digital platform that seeks to promote e-commerce through the generation of flexibility to improve the distribution of goods in the last mile, reducing costs, time and CO2 emissions. Classified in the field of Innovation and Technology Development.

The 4th place was awarded to the company Akllana Consultora Socioambiental, Cuenca, Ecuador for the initiative Toquilog. Technological and gender inclusion in the logistics chain of the toquilla straw hats of the TESYA Association of the Sígsig canton, province of Azuay, Ecuador. Classified in the Social, Environmental and Gender areas.

For CAF and the SIMUS Network, it was very gratifying to have had such a large number of projects participating in this first edition of the Latin American Urban Logistics Competition and to learn about what is being developed in the region. CAF’s LOGUS Coordinator and Leader, Andrés Alcalá, made a special recognition, congratulating the winners for the quality and high value of the initiatives that are in line with the objectives pursued by the LOGUS Integral Strategy deployed in the region, seeking their inclusion in the agendas of local governments so that logistics can be more fully integrated into urban policies, not only in mobility but also in territorial planning, urbanism, environment, productivity and trade.

Special thanks go to the members and member organisations of the Evaluation Committee, made up of a high-level multidisciplinary team, which has selected the initiatives with the most relevant and high-impact solutions according to the established selection criteria, accompanying the process with total commitment.

The Chilean Foundation for Logistics Efficiency – Conecta Logística, promoted by the Logistics Development Programme of the Undersecretary of Transport of the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications of Chile, which promotes the coordinated work of academia, the public and private sector, whose participation was led by its Executive Director, Dr. Mabel Leva, who said “It is important to continue promoting urban logistics through this type of initiatives such as the competition.

She emphasised that what is relevant about the winning projects is that they can have an impact and replicability in other cities, allowing results and good practices to be shared, and from Conecta Logística our interest is to continue collaborating”; the Institute of Mobility of Seville, Spain under the leadership of the CEO, Dr. Julián Sastre, and the Agency for the Promotion of Mobility of the City of Seville, Spain under the leadership of Dr. Julián Sastre. Julián Sastre, and the Basque Agency for Internationalisation of the Basque Government, Spain with the qualified representation of the Project Director, Alberto Gavin, who assured that “The winning proposals propose innovative solutions with a great impact on urban logistics, a decision that was not easy due to the quality of the initiatives and invited to partner with Basque companies through the PILOTUS Programme that finances projects in logistics from 50,000 to 200,000 euros”.

On behalf of CAF, Rodrigo Alarcon, senior executive of the Regional Integration Directorate, said that “Learning about the various public/private initiatives that are being developed in the region allowed us to have a broader view of the importance of continuing to promote logistics in Latin America as a fundamental purpose of the Development Bank and, to that extent, we hope to continue supporting not only these important initiatives but also promoting urban logistics in the region”.

Finally, the Secretary General of the SIMUS Network, Martha Gutiérrez, stated that “The Competition has been a good start to form the urban logistics community in Latin America, and we hope to consolidate it through the Regional Urban Logistics Platform that has been launched with CAF’s support as a tool to unite the specialised logistics community, being a dynamic and interactive space that fosters collaborative work, relationships and meetings between peers from both the public and private sectors, academics and experts to generate learning, knowledge and exchange of experiences, as well as a catalyst for innovative changes to improve the performance of logistics in the region”.

The award ceremony was attended by representatives of the winning companies along with international partners from countries such as France, Spain, Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, Uruguay, Colombia, Estonia, Sweden and Peru, denoting the potential for expansion of the LOGUS Strategy under the allied and coordinated competition of the public and private sector.