Data Sharing in RoPax Ports: Challenges and Opportunities

Aiming to engage additional sectors of the market, numerous companies adopt data-intensive solutions for their customers. Data ecosystems have emerged across a variety of industrial sectors. By design, they create value exploiting data exchange among participating organizations. Establishing such an ecosystem in the maritime sector is accompanied by various impediments. However, exploiting maritime data to the fullest and optimizing the supply chains might become critical for future generations. We investigate, in this article, data sharing in the maritime domain, focusing on data ecosystems in RoPax ports. These ports accommodate maritime vessels which allow the transport of vehicles, passengers and goods. The choice of maritime domain and of RoPax ports specifically is rooted in their crucial role in global trade, transportation, and environmental sustainability. To understand data sharing in this context, we conducted an exploratory case study based on a Finnish RoPaX port. This study was based on a qualitative case-study approach for data collection and analysis. We identified the main challenges and practical implications of data sharing, along with their benefits in the context of RoPax ports. In addition, we provide a conceptual diagram for data sharing for future maritime data ecosystems.