A digital platform will be put in place with the aim of connecting all parties active in the Swedish seaport.
"The greatest challenge will be to bring together the hundreds of organisations that cooperate and compete for transport at the Port of Gothenburg. Shipping companies, terminal operators, rail operators, forwarding companies, freight owners, and inland terminals each represent an individual thread, and together they will intertwine to form a complex freight transport network," the Gothenburg Port Authority (GPA) wrote in a press release.
GPA furthered, "At present, all those involved use separate IT systems that measure and handle individual elements in the transport chain based on fragmented information. Interaction between them often means dipping into the system manually."
The port authority will act as the network coordinator, with the technical solution provided by Webtech. The two will now work on a joint project plan, ironing out the details with the parties using the port. "With these services, more rapid, high-quality information will facilitate flexible planning and collaboration between the different operators at the port. Data that is made available to us will allow shipping companies and ports to be integrated, with significant environmental gains as a result - through just-in-time arrival for example. Freight owners, rail operators, and terminal operators will be able to track their goods in real time. The response among those are affected has been overwhelmingly positive, and they have already identified the considerable potential that will be generated," GPA specified in its press brief.
The platform is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2021.
"Determining how this unravelled system works is not just a matter of randomly pulling the individual threads. We need to adopt a cohesive approach, working with all the parties concerned, and we are currently building a platform that will help us realise our objectives. What will emerge is a new digital services 'ecosystem' for the Port of Gothenburg in its role as a freight hub," Joseph Sandwing, Head of Digital Business Transformation, GPA, said.
To this Malin Collin, Deputy CEO, GPA, added, "We have a vision of being the world's most competitive port and if we are to deliver on that vision we need to develop our ideas and expertise in partnership. Everyone sitting down and being smart in their own compartmentalised world is no longer sufficient. Instead we need to link up and share what we have in a novel way if are to make the pioneering advances that we have envisaged. There is strong support for this transition throughout the whole of the freight hub, and everyone is looking to develop a smart, sustainable port. We are now getting down to the task of bringing our plans and ambitions to fruition."
Photo: Port of Gothenburg