Interaction between Transport, Infrastructure, and Institutional Management

Abstract

Ongoing research on how to support high-quality information for intermodal transport is reported. The research approach suggests that the interaction between the domains of transport, infrastructure, and institutional management is a step forward. This kind of interaction must be formalized and structured through a specific infrastructure, and someone must be responsible for the development and maintenance of this infrastructure. Research results of 54 semistructured interviews conducted as a prestudy for a port community system (PCS) in the Port of Gothenburg, Sweden, are used as empirical data. Results indicate that cooperation and information sharing within the port cluster are far from a highly integrated supply-chain management solution. Results also reveal major gaps regarding the recognition of each other's situation, especially between authorities and the shipping industry. With a PCS viewed as an interaction infrastructure, the approach of the Port of Gothenburg stresses the need for interaction among the different domains as well as the need for a strong initiator and developer. For the system to become successful, it must achieve a certain status as useful and trusted by the many who must update the system in a timely manner. For trust to be built into the system, development and implementation must be done in close cooperation with the many actors. The actors must think outside of their own systems; information crucial to each individual actor's operation also can be of value to others.