The self-organised transport ecosystem is made up of many players. In shipping, there are a few large shipping companies, but many more small ones. The number of shipping companies operating on the world's oceans (in 2021) was 15 200. Shipping companies own a total of 56 000 vessels, which visited more than 5 600 ports during the year.

The reality is similar for other transport modes. Complexity and competition contribute to a reluctance – and habit – of sharing information. But now it looks like a change and a rapprochement is underway.

"The patience of goods owners is wearing thin. They are tired of receiving inadequate – and sometimes no – information about when their goods will arrive at their final destination," says Mikael Lind, Senior Researcher at RISE and initiator of the Virtual Watch Tower Network concept.

Predictability creates competitive advantage

In practice, it is not possible to book an exact time for loading or unloading goods. In many cases, the port works on a first-come, first-served basis. This means that many ships circulate in or outside the port for long periods waiting to be served. The cargo often includes containers of goods to be shipped to an end customer.

Mikael Lind uses Stora Enso as an example:

"They buy large amounts of transport every year and want to halve their emissions by 2030 compared to their emissions in 2019. This means that their choice of transport operator is very important, and those who can offer better predictability have a big competitive advantage."

Shared data for greater insight

The idea behind the Virtual Watch Tower, the vision for the solution that a larger community will now co-create, is that everyone who joins agrees to share their data by signing a power of attorney. Everyone in the cargo owner's transport corridors will have access to their own watch tower, where information about important events such as route planning, delays and port readiness will be shared. The aim is to give the cargo owner, who pays for the transport, confidence that any disruptions will be resolved by the parties involved. The level of emissions will also be reported and monitored.

The Virtual Watch Tower Network concept is a further development of the CDM concept that RISE has been working on for many years (see e.g. PortCDM, YardCDM, StationCDM). The common denominator is increased transparency in the transport chain through digitisation. But there is an important difference: while the CDM was designed to coordinate separate transport nodes (railway stations, airports and ports), the Virtual Watch Tower Network concept is an end-to-end solution. It involves all the players involved in a transport operation, regardless of the mode of transport.

Pilot project demonstrates building blocks

RISE, together with its counterpart in Singapore, A*STAR/IHPC, is leading the work to connect stakeholders, but also to create arenas for innovation and demonstration of the system.

"In the pilot project we had 50 stakeholders (cargo owners, transport operators, service providers and research partners) in shipping, rail and road transport. And more are joining. With the Virtual Watch Tower Network, we have found a network solution that recognises the sovereignty of each actor, and that is something that is perceived as very meaningful," says Kenneth Lind, Senior Researcher at RISE and Project Manager for the pilot project.

During Singapore Maritime Week in late April 2023, the RISE Virtual Watch Tower Network demonstrated the concept for the first time in a public context. The next step will be to develop and demonstrate the key building blocks of the concept during a two-year pilot project, funded by Vinnova and its Singaporean counterpart, the Singapore Maritime Institute.

"I see huge potential in this solution. It fills a gap for something that a global industry sees as a challenge. Using digital technology, it is helping to create important value both for the organisation and for society at large," concludes Kenneth Lind.

Sweden's role as an exporting nation is entirely dependent on shipping. More than 95 per cent of Sweden's goods trade passes through its ports – and there are strong indications that much of the country's current road traffic will be shifted to rail and sea. This calls for greater sustainability in shipping, the rail system and the port.

Strengthening the innovation capacity of small and medium-sized ports

Since 2020, RISE has been running the "I.Hamn" project, which aims to strengthen the innovation capacity of small and medium-sized Swedish ports by facilitating cooperation and development in the areas of digitalisation, electrification and automation. Based on this work, RISE has formulated the concept of "The Sustainable Port".

"A sustainable port needs to address three different types of nodes: one with its natural focus on being a transport node, another for the potential role of being an energy node and a third to also be an information/digital node. "All these dimensions are important if we are to achieve greener shipping," says Sandra Haraldson, senior researcher at RISE, concept developer for The Sustainable Port and project manager for I.hamn.

"Put simply, all hub concepts are about seeing the port as a hub in a larger network. Transport rarely stops at the port; goods are collected by lorry, train or ship. A key challenge for the port as a transport hub is to get all the transport modes involved to work together.

Avoiding unnecessary delays through optimal preparation

Even if a ship announces its arrival well, problems can arise if the port is not optimally prepared for both internal handling and onward transport. This causes unnecessary delays throughout the transport chain.

Mikael Lind says that the port has become an important business cluster, with more and more parties involved.

"Almost SEK 20 billion is invested in the Swedish port system today. In order for this investment to be profitable, more knowledge is needed about how the port can serve each mode of transport as efficiently as possible, while at the same time ensuring that port operations are as sustainable as possible.

Closer cooperation between energy companies and ports is an example of where digitalisation is needed to coordinate the distribution and storage of energy, but also to plan and enable energy-efficient operations.

There is already an increased demand for electricity supply and charging facilities. Both from ships and trucks.

"Most ports cannot meet these demands. The infrastructure needs to be developed so that there is enough power for both transport and the inhabitants of the city," says Mikael Lind.

Connected freight – an exciting solution

Connected freight is a new type of solution that Mikael Lind strongly believes in. With the help of connected sensors, shipping companies can track their goods as they travel and know where they are, but they can also check other important parameters, such as the temperature the goods are exposed to, whether someone has opened the container in which the goods are located, and so on.

"This is revolutionary technology. In particular, the connected container means that we can get information about the geographical location of the container and how it is handled as it passes through different transport hubs and is handled by different modes of transport.

Another example is when several ships arrive at the same time and some have to wait until they can dock. This results in unnecessarily high emissions as these waiting ships could have travelled slower to get to the port. Many are working to ensure that ships arrive at the port on a just-in-time basis, for example by focusing on green shipping corridors and synchronising on a virtual rather than a physical basis.

"The sustainable port addresses the UN Sustainable Development Goals by using them as a benchmark for operations. By focusing on both the port's internal operations, how the port can best serve its visitors, and the port's role in its local and regional context, the port becomes an integral part of the sustainable transport ecosystem, says Sandra Haraldson.

Rallying for the sustainable port

During the first half of 2023, RISE will lead the preparation of a rally for the sustainable port in a preparatory project supported by Vinnova. The aim is to create further conditions for continued work to increase innovation capacity in Swedish ports. The project builds on previous projects funded by Lighthouse, Sweden's collaborative platform for maritime research and innovation.

"Among other things, we are working on a cross-sectoral system demonstrator. The purpose of this is to find the answer to the 'how' question for the Swedish ports' journey, which is expressed in the sustainable port roadmap that we are currently developing together with the Swedish ports," says Sandra Haraldson.

Sweden is currently about 50 per cent self-sufficient, a relatively low figure compared with Finland's 80 per cent, for example. Aiming for greater self-sufficiency is important to strengthen our resilience in crises like the current one - but it can also be a way to become more efficient, more sustainable and to find new business in normal times.

Security of supply is important all along the food chain

High food security is about what and how we grow, harvest, handle, preserve and store food raw materials. It is also about how we process, manufacture, store and transport the food we produce.

In normal times, increased production here at home is an opportunity to steer food production towards better management of resources, lower climate impact and stable jobs - and not least a chance to increase exports of Swedish quality goods.

But a higher degree of self-sufficiency also provides greater resilience to various types of change, such as temporary shortages of raw materials and inputs, or disruptions in the logistics chain during crises, emergencies and, ultimately, war.

"In the best of all possible worlds, import and export systems will work in the face of disruption, but if they don't, we need to ensure that we have the supply capacity to meet production and distribution needs. And to be resilient, we need the whole food industry, including both primary production and the food processing industry," says Birgitta Raaholt, senior researcher at RISE in the area of supply preparedness and resource-smart manufacturing technology.

"The whole industry therefore needs to be updated and prepared. The various stakeholders are working together with RISE – which acts as a knowledge hub – on everything from identifying replacement goods, alternative production of spare parts, food safety in the event of disruptions in the regular supply chain, finding ways to safeguard operations in the event of disruptions, risk analysis (see fact box).

It's not just about what we produce, but how we use the resources we need to do it. Resource efficiency is important for both livelihoods and sustainability - how we make the best use of resources when, for example, energy and water are scarce.

"This goes hand in hand with both resilience and sustainability perspectives", says Birgitta Raaholt.

Robust, sustainable and safe food production

In terms of our ability to gently produce safe food that can withstand storage and transport, there are several advantages to using new technologies for food production.

"These include making greater use of certain crops that were previously used less for food processing and more for animal feed. Conserving a resource may mean using more energy-efficient baking and drying techniques. And that it might be wise to use peas on the plate instead of making flour from them to make a product that looks like sausage," says Birgitta Raaholt.

Resilience is about our food system being able to cope with "a bit of a wobble". Some production is more resilient, says Birgitta Raaholt, pointing to livestock as an example.

"Our livestock graze and are still there when the power goes out. The same goes for a food like eggs, which can be kept at room temperature even if the power goes out. Processed foods include UHT milk and highly pasteurised, sterilised or dehydrated foods."

However, food production also depends on a range of so-called inputs, such as seeds, fertilisers, fuels and agricultural pesticides.

"For example, we can look at the domestic production of plant nutrients. In food processing, it's about production readiness and access to raw materials, packaging, refrigerants... But also the ability to maintain a functioning infrastructure and comply with regulations on safe food and food handling," says Birgitta Raaholt.

Modern – and traditional – storage methods needed

Both large and small players in the food industry are now using modern storage techniques. But households also need to know more about how to ensure that they are prepared at home, and how to store food sustainably and well.

"This is something we need to work on more. In normal times it's easy to go to the shops and buy what we need, but we still need to have an emergency plan at home. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency has put a lot of pressure on this, so that everyone who is able should be able to cope for a week," says Birgitta Raaholt.

The next step is for the transport and logistics chain to function. Both for the arrival of the goods and as part of food safety – that is, the food has to be transported and stored properly until it reaches the person who will eat it.

"If you have disruptions that bring the system down, this places additional demands on the robustness of the chain. For example, if you don't have the power to keep the cold chain going, people can get sick. Packaging is also necessary to store and maintain the quality of food, as are pasteurisation and drying processes."

Flexible preparedness is one way

The global pandemics of recent years have given us several examples of how preparedness can be about the ability to quickly adjust production to obtain key commodities. Often this involves cooperation between different actors.

"One concept we are working on together with industry is flexible preparedness. It's about how industrial production in Sweden can adapt during a crisis. It could be things like a number of companies working together to develop strategies for production, as we saw with face masks during the pandemic. It is conceivable that similar solutions can be implemented in the food industry," says Birgitta Raaholt.

"Much of our work focuses on technical solutions for production transition and collaborative models for flexible preparedness. This may involve managing service and maintenance, or manufacturing the spare parts needed in the food industry. Strategies for storage and resource-efficient manufacturing are also necessary elements of resilient food production."