Key factors for the implementation and integration of innovative ICT solutions in SMEs and large companies involved in the multimodal transport of dangerous goods

Gemma Dolores Molero,Melanie Mayrhofer,Abdullah Kassabji,Samir Awad-Núñez,Sara Poveda-Reyes,Francisco Enrique Santarremigia

doi:10.1186/s12544-019-0362-8

Abstract

The increased number of transports with dangerous goods (TDG) increases the risk of both accidents and terrorist attacks. Digitalisation is crucial in order to avoid human errors and to increase safety, security and efficiency, however there are few research studies that analyse digitalisation for the TDG, this being the first time, to the author’s knowledge, that barriers to the implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions for the transport of dangerous goods has been analysed. A new elicitation methodology called the ‘implementation acceleration methodology for ICT (IAM-ICT)’ has been created, with the aim of identifying and hierarchizing potential barriers to the implementation and integration of ICT solutions involved in the multimodal TDG, and with a view to overcoming the most relevant problems at an early stage. This methodology combines user-driven innovation (UDI), the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Bayesian networks. The application of this methodology, which is easily replicable in other fields, will enable a better design of ICT solutions so that they can be implemented and integrated in SMEs and large companies. The results show a hierarchy of potential barriers for a multi-modular ICT solution used as use case study, in two different co-designed schemes for a small and medium enterprise (SME) and for a large company.

Highlights

The transport of dangerous goods (TDG) has been increasing in recent years
6 Conclusions and further developments The increasing presence of dangerous goods on our roads, together with their significant hazards, the strict regulations for their transport and handling, and the increasing number of terrorist attacks, highlights the importance of having greater control and less human intervention in this field. This objective can be achieved through the development of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions for a more automatised supply chain for the TDG
The analysis of barriers to ICT implementation are focused only on ICT solutions already implemented in the market, and on the other hand, there is a wide variety of methods for the development of ICT solutions but none that include a pre-analysis of potential barriers to implementation once launched on the market

Summary

Introduction

The transport of dangerous goods (TDG) has been increasing in recent years. In 2015, the road freight transport of dangerous goods in Europe moved around 82 billion tonne-kilometres, which represented an 8.8% increase compared with 2014 [1] and €615 billion of sales [2]. This rise in the TDG increases the risk of accidents. The most recent European data for road transport shows that 19.73% of checked transport units in 2014 had at least one infringement, with 27.72% of the infringements requiring the vehicle to be immobilised [3]. The variety of regulations makes compliance with all safety and documentation requirements difficult, which leads to human mistakes, and demonstrates the need for digitalisation and automation through ICT

Objectives

Results

Conclusion