Smartport Initiative of the Bremen Ports

Over the past decades, companies in Bremen's ports have also undergone continuous technological development in order to meet market requirements and strengthen their market position. However, there has been no overarching link between the respective projects and data, nor a joint strategy to further increase the overall efficiency and sustainability of the port through appropriate and future digitization measures.

How can the measures taken by the individual players ultimately result in a truly “smart port”? How can the interests of the various stakeholders be combined? Where and with whom should responsibilities lie? Which issues should be given particular attention in the development of the smart port, in the interests of all stakeholders and closely aligned with their needs? These are precisely the questions that the Smart Port Strategy, developed in collaboration with bremenports, aims to answer, while also serving as a guideline for the future development process. The “smart” in front of “port” stands for intelligent and networked systems. In this case, however, smart also means sustainable, multimodal, i.e., comprehensive in terms of all transport routes, agile (adaptable and flexible), resilient (resistant), and technologized. The common goal is for the port of the future – the smart port – to become a real benefit for all stakeholders in and around the port through the use of new technologies, networking, bundling, and linking the various measures and interests of port operators, resulting in even greater efficiency and ultimately making the entire value chain continuously more efficient, safer, and more sustainable. No smart port without a smart port community!

Even during the development of the Smartport strategy, it became clear that the way forward could only be a joint one: The increasing number of participants in the various formats (including stakeholder workshops, working groups, and C-level meetings) and the active engagement, including critical discussions within the individual topic areas, made it abundantly clear that although involving all stakeholders requires considerable effort, it is simply necessary in order to establish a common understanding of the Smartport and the measures required. Continuing and expanding this extremely agile Smartport Community, which was created through joint efforts, as a platform and convincing other stakeholders to actively and permanently participate in the Smartport initiative is therefore a firm common goal.