Digitalization and decarbonization for business and environmentally sustainable ports

Ports are the critical nodes of global logistics and supply chains and play an essential role in global social and economic prosperity. The need to improve efficiency and reduce emissions has been well understood by the industry. Especially, as world trade is projected to grow significantly in the coming decades, emission reduction has been and will be a big challenge to the industry. On the other hand, digitalization and decarbonization have already been shaping the port future, which however is still scientifically and technically challenging due to inherent complexities and uncertainties existing in port operational environments.

The Business Finland - MOST joint innovation call offers a perfect opportunity for the companies and research institutions in both countries to join forces to address the challenges. The BESPORT project brings together 11 partners from Finland (7) and China (4) to share practical experiences and jointly develop innovative solutions to help the industry to gain competitive edge globally. For Finnish partners, BESPORT addresses the industry’s challenges and need for port electrification and digitalization, focusing on next-generation electric vehicles in ports, port vehicle fleet and energy infrastructure integration, Al-driven port business and technical operations optimization and collaborative intelligence in future ports. Sustainability- driven innovations, tools, services and platforms are developed, validated and further showcased in a number of case studies, pilots and demonstrations to show their potential and practical capability for port renewal and operation optimization.

Executed successfully, BESPORT will not only generate significant scientific and technological knowledge and global competitive advantages, but more importantly strengthen Finland’s global leading position in port digitalization and decarbonization. Eventually, we can make global ports more productive, cost-effective, business and environmentally sustainable.