Report: Well-functioning information environment in logistics improves transportation efficiency

According to a study commissioned by the Ministry of Transport and Communications on information environments in logistics, the key priority in the digitalisation of logistics is to develop the existing national information environment as part of the EU-wide data space development in the transport sector. The development should be tightly linked with the data resources maintained by the authorities and with the availability and utilisation of data accumulated in dealings with the authorities.

The report on the construction of logistics information environments describes the current state of the environments as well as the information sharing ecosystem in Finland. The report also examines the impacts that the development of the logistics information environment and the sharing of information in the ecosystem have. With regard to the ecosystem, the report also discusses its objectives, areas, responsibilities and development needs.

The logistics information environment consists of regulation on data sharing, official activities and the technologies and practices available to operators in the sector.

Ecosystems refer to networks between enterprises, entrepreneurs, researchers, public administration and third-sector operators. They are based on interdependency and have a common aim. A key condition for the ecosystem's evolution is that it allows everyone involved to create value, even if the ecosystem also receives significant leverage.

A data space means an interoperable network of operators and systems that was created for data sharing and works across the EU on the basis of jointly agreed principles and rules. 

Information environment increases predictability of transport and more efficient use of resources

An efficient information environment provides capabilities for connecting companies' and authorities' own systems to other systems and service providers through external interfaces. This calls for the authorities and companies to open up their own data. The data should also be taken into use. The report places particular emphasis on the utilisation of information in the authorities' data resources and information generated in dealings with the authorities.

In order to create an information environment for logistics, interoperable availability, management and utilisation of data throughout the supply chain and between the logistics operators must be ensured. For the activities to be better planned and anticipated, the data must be transparent and the information must flow in real time. This way transport networks and transportation capacity and resources can be utilised as efficiently as possible.

The report also lists bottlenecks in sharing logistics information and introducing digital solutions that are difficult to resolve on market terms without jointly agreed development measures. The development of an ecosystem for information exchange in logistics should be carried out through experiments and in small steps so that the impacts and benefits of the changes can be verified to the operators in the ecosystem.

More sustainable logistics through digitalisation

The study is one of the measures in the government resolution on the digitalisation of logistics and serves as background material for the development of logistics digitalisation.

The vision of the resolution is that infrastructure, logistics and data form a functional set in transport corridors and that digitalisation has provided Finland the opportunity to move towards efficient and sustainable logistics.

The report on the construction of the logistics information environment was discussed at the Logistics Digitalisation Forum arranged by the Ministry of Transport and Communications on 30 November 2021. It has now been published in the Gateway to Information on Government Projects. The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Transport and Communications and conducted by Ramboll CM Oy.

Inquiries:

Essi Teljo, Senior Officer, tel. +358 50 328 0398, [email protected]

Maria Rautavirta, Director of Unit, tel. +358 40 718 5975, [email protected], Twitter: @mrautavirta