5. Technological Change and Logistics Development in European Ports

Digital technologies are a key element in the logistics sector development. The so-called digital revolution that began in the 1980s, on the basis of the increasingly widespread use of automation, artificial intelligence and robotics in production processes, is changing the face of world logistics, a change often referred to as Logistics 4.0. Building on the impact of digitalisation on other sectors, port cities are also expected to see the emergence of new business models in the coming years, made possible by the advancement of digital technologies. Some researchers and practitioners even foresee the development of a global cargo handling system similar to the Internet, called Physical Internet (PI), in which goods would be moved seamlessly on an intermodal network at very low costs thanks to state-of-the-art data management technologies. The development of a PI-based logistics model requires new methods of monitoring and managing data, on the physical characteristics of the goods, as well as on the financial flows and traceability of the products; and ports are likely to play a critical role in favouring the uptake of such data collections and use. One of the most promising enablers to this vision is blockchain, a technology that would make it possible to document an increasingly large number of characteristics of a product or a commodity. The shipping sector cannot be caught unprepared, and adequate support is also needed inside ports. This chapter reviews the current technology and digitalisation trends in ports, advancing hypotheses on how they are likely to change port-city cargo—but also people—mobility and influence port logistics.