By Thomas Vitsounis
Is ‘smart port’ just a catchprase, a meaningful term, or many more? Thomas Vistiounis, addresses the issue in the inaugural article of his bi-monthly column in My Logistics e-magazine:
“Whilst the title of the article is mainly provocative, it is not very far from reality. Eager to keep up with the latest trends and avoid being characterised as outdated and old-fashioned, the term “smart” port is excessively used by professionals, policy-makers and academics. But in reality, what does having a “smart” port really mean – other than admittedly profiling a new buzzword?
The term “smart” has always made me feel really uncomfortable. Maybe because one of my favorite quotes from Einstein goes something like this: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid”. In this sense, maybe it’s because if we characterise some ports as “smart” then we imply that the others are “dumb” –and I cannot think of anyone that would like to characterise any port as “dumb”…”
Read PortEconomics member Thomas Vitsounis article about smart ports @ his bi-monthly column in My Logistics e-magazine: Do we really know what a “smart” port is?
