SMART PORTS

It has become possible to achieve short-term “wins” by implementing technology innovations and new techpowered business process solutions. Those wins are important in the here and now. Consider, for instance, how ports are coping with climate change. Port budgets are being shifted in ways that will, ultimately, make facilities less vulnerable to climate-induced natural hazards — including typhoons. Such events do lead to costly vessel traffic disruptions. They significantly impact the reliability of the logistics chain. With more accurate weather data and better prediction models (based on artificial intelligence), port authorities are being alerted more promptly to potential threats to port operations. This, in turn, allows for better mitigation measures, and for enhancing emergency preparedness. (See sidebar).

A shift towards the smart port ensures that the waste of space, time, money and natural resources can be reduced, and, perhaps one day, wholly eliminated. The smart ports concept started with one leading purpose: harnessing advanced technologies to improve the port, support trade, enhance resiliency, and enable more inclusive economic growth.

This vision is tempered by a host of practical limitations. Achieving techenabled levels of port maturity and port sophistication is not something which can happen overnight. The transformations which are part and parcel of the smart port journey is gradual, and it is comprised of many incremental steps.

Digitization of ports can bring about process efficiencies in and between ports. Such efficiency reaps multiple benefits, especially in the realm of reduced operational costs. This enhances the competitiveness of individual ports. However, it may not be realistic to expect all ports to embrace (or event to survive) the Age of Digitization. The chance of survival depends on how well the port can share digital information within a system of connected logistics supply chain and ports.

The smart ports concept started with one leading purpose: harnessing advanced technologies to improve the port, support trade, enhance resiliency, and enable more inclusive economic growth.

In a white paper, the Port of Rotterdam identified these four levels of “digital maturity” for a port and the extended network which they call “the port’s cargo community”:

Level 1: Digitization of individual activities in the port

At this level, individual organizations operating inside the port digitize their processes in such a fashion that they work more efficiently. This happens by, for example, implementing a terminal management system to digitize the administrative and financial processes. Digitization and automation of the port operations facilitates data collection, which enhances greater costefficiencies, safety, and environmental sustainability.

Level 2: Integrated systems in a port community

Once individual activities in the port have been digitized, the next step in the digital maturity is the digital exchange of information within the port community. This exchange leads to reliable, efficient, and paperless dataflows, resulting in more efficient port operations. The focus in this level is related to securely sharing data. Cybersecurity and cyber resilience are, of course, going to be key.

Level 3: Logistics chain integrated with hinterland

At this level, the hinterland four players (importers, exporters, logistics hubs, domestic transporters) are involved in digital communication with the port community. This integration promotes sharing of real-time information on freight and vessel movements, facilitating better planning.

Level 4: Connected ports in the global logistics chain

The port and its hinterland connections are extended to other ports around the world, forming a global network of interconnected ports. This network will allow further reductions of inefficiencies in the global logistics chains by optimizing the use of port capacities and achieve shorter, more reliable transit times.

The evolutionary process which leads to becoming a smart port can be divided into five steps:

1. Data capture

2. Collaboration

3. Decision support

4. Learning

5. Digital transformation

What exactly are the drivers pushing ports to adopt the technologies which, if successfully utilized, will make them a smart port? Here are the six most important drivers:

• Operational efficiency — Using smart technologies to increase productivity will help reduce operational costs and relieve congestion of vessels arriving and/or trucks leaving.

• Asset management — Technologies (such as the least expensive ones, sensors) that better monitor structural health or ways in which maintenance requirements can be minimized will result in reduced operational costs.

• Business resilience — Tools can be used to strengthen commercial business operations, to invest wisely in crisis management and business continuity, to be responsive to changes in port traffic and customer demands, and to provide robust service continuity (such as cybersecurity) and staff capability and training.

• Safety and security — Specialized equipment, technologies, and systems can be applied to take over standard repetitive tasks, which will help increase operations safety. The same principle applies to smart security systems to reduce labor-intensive activities. There is a long list of such activities, one of which is container screening.

• Energy efficiency — Operational costs and environmental impacts are lessened by being more energy-efficient, particularly with electrification or on-site power generation. Energy efficiency does not mean reduced functionality.

• Environmental management —

Following international global climate agreements, such as those that came out of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, governments at all levels (national, regional, and local) look toward ports to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants. Port authorities are, therefore, compelled to adopt strategies which will make their operations more environmentally friendly. During the past few decades, global experience with smart-port initiatives has allowed logistics experts and port executives to come to one key conclusion: smart systems integrated into port operations and management can, in fact, help improve port efficiency — and that they do create economic value. Smart ports are indispensable components of economic resilience and recovery through trade.

Gordon Feller has worked for more than four decades at the intersection of global trade and technology innovation. Upon arriving in Silicon Valley in 1983 he began work, from inside the executive suite, to develop ambitious projects aimed at solving some of the world’s most complex problems. Current and past clients include World Bank, IHS Markit, World Economic Forum, Ford Motor Co. Toyota, The Financial Times of London, The Economist Group, Apple, The Rockefeller Foundation, numerous national governments (Germany, Canada, US), Reuters, and many others. From 2010 to 2017, he served as Director at Cisco Systems HQ. He founded Meeting of the Minds in the 1990s, stitching together a global leadership network which is enabling the adoption of new policies and systems. Gordon was appointed by the Obama/Biden White House to serve on the US Federal Comm. established by The US Congress. He currently serves as a Global Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution. Gordon sits on numerous corporate and non-profit boards. His first published article appeared in a journal published by the World Policy Institute (NYC) in 1979. Since then he’s published 450+ magazine articles. (Twitter: @GordonFeller)

Reducing the impact to and the exposure to natural hazards

Pacific ports are vulnerable to different kinds of natural hazards. Ports in the Pacific need to be better climate-proofed and mitigate any impact caused to the surrounding environment. Pacific ports are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and associated risks are increasing. At the same time, the port itself can harm surrounding environments, particularly during an expansion. Pacific ports are now being exposed, on an ever-increasing basis, to a wide range of worsening climate-related hazards such as tropical cyclones, floods, droughts, storm surges, and sea level rise. This creates adverse effects on ports, and it impacts the surrounding environment in several of the following ways:

Disruption of Freight and Passenger Loading/Unloading — This is caused by a sea level rise, as a result of the expansion of seawater and melting glaciers and ice caps due to warmer climate. The usability of wharves is adversely affected as higher sea levels increase the likelihood of overtopping and flooding. Seasonal swell intrusion can also present such operational risks to ports.

Damage to Port Infrastructure —The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels has also increased the amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater, increasing its acidity. As a result, port infrastructure faces increasing risk of corrosion damage. Further, many of the ports in the Pacific are under a constant threat from tropical cyclones, whose frequency and strength climate change also appears to be affecting. According to the most recent computerbased models, while cyclone frequencies may remain unaffected, the strengths will increase, accompanied by stronger wind and larger wave.

Damage to Local Fishing and Tourism — Rising water temperature and acidity causes great stress to shellfish and corals, which rely on non-acidic minerals for their strength. This could lead to coral bleaching, and it will become more difficult for the marine environment to fully recover from it if the sea acidity and temperature continue to rise. As the corals are the nurseries and refuge for many reef fish and an important tourist attraction, it will have a negative impact on local fishing and tourism.

Changes in Cyclone Paths and Cyclone Strength -- In general, increased temperatures are expected to result in increased strength rather than increased frequency of cyclones and weaker but still destructive severe tropical storms. Paths may also change. These are also affected by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, and the effects of global warming on ENSO are still unclear. The designs of port infrastructure assets in the Pacific need to take these into consideration. For instance, deck levels will need to be higher and extra corrosion protection will be needed to prevent damages caused by more acidic and warmer seawater in the future. In addition, equipment must be mobile or mounted in a way which allows it to resist overtopping waves.

For domestic wharves to prepare for the projected sea level rise, the wharf needs to be raised, but raising it too high would compromise efficient use of such infrastructure by vessels with low freeboard. As such, designs may need to be developed allowing the deck to be raised at a later date. A second approach is to increase the use of roll-on/rolloff (ro-ro) vessels for domestic interisland trade since these vessels can use ramps which can be extended inland as sea level rises.