Investigating the role of technological advancements in port operations and the development of smart, green and sustainable ports.

Abstract

The advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has tremendously transformed the speed of adoption of technological advancements in all sectors and industries. Ports constitute one of the key industries undergoing this historic shift and transformation in their operations. Therefore, in order to keep pace with the rapidly changing operational landscape, the port industry is embracing and adopting at an accelerating pace the latest developments in technology with major impacts and benefits generated for both port operators and the hinterland. Examination of the academic literature shows that the knowledge gap remains on how technological advancements in port operations affect the efficiency and performance of a port, and what benefits and impacts are generated for the hinterland. The researcher is not aware of any study that has holistically identified and analysed the relationship between technological advancements and generated benefits and impacts for port operators and the hinterland, as well as the different barriers and incentives for the development of smart, green and sustainable ports. This research used a mixed-methods approach and included a literature review; a scoping study; a systematic review on the relationship between port efficiency and economic development; an investigation of the key characteristics of the world’s leading container ports; a Website Content Analysis of the world’s leading container ports; a case study of the UK port sector through in depth semi-structured interviews with industry stakeholders; and a Participant Observation study of the transformational journey of a UK traditional port to become smart, green and sustainable. The analysis of the key characteristics of the world’s leading ports and the Website Content Analysis focused specifically on container ports, while the UK Case study and the Participant Observation addressed all types of ports. The key technological trends pertinent to smart, green and sustainable ports are identified and smart scores are generated for a range of container ports around the world. This Dissertation contributes to fill the identified gap in the literature by providing: (i) insights and benchmarking of the world’s major ports with regard to their smart, green and sustainability related practices and efforts; (ii) clear understanding of the different benefits and impacts generated from the application of technological advancements in port operations; (iii) detailed information on the factors behind the barriers for the maximisation of the potential gains generated for both port operators and the hinterland (iv) contribution to fill the identified gap in the literature by providing empirical evidence from the UK case study. A more comprehensive and precise understanding of the benefits and impacts generated from the application of technological advancements in port operations will guide policy makers and port operators make appropriate investment, design better policies, collaborate, address barriers (e.g. iii skills gap, ownership structure, disincentives for investment, etc.) and identify drivers (e.g. the ports’ client base is driving ports to focus more on new technologies, digitilisation and sustainability adoption, in line with trends in these areas along wider supply chain) as they plan towards the development of the smart, green and sustainable ports of the future, some of which too have potential to become clean energy hubs in their own right