MAGPIE Governance of Digital Solutions non-tech solution

Digital solutions are essential for the greening of ports. The governance of these digital solutions is as important as the solution themselves. Both should be developed in parallel. This way Europe’s Twin Transition of technology enabled climate action, becomes a Triple Transition: Green, Digital, and Social. D7.8 focuses on governance of the Energy Tech Stack (ETS), which consists of a Data Space, Digital Twin (DT), and Energy Matching System (EMS). The intended audience of the report are “Governance Designers” within a Port Ecosystem, as well as organizations within the port that are seeking to understand and use digital technologies to combat climate change.

Designing the right governance for digital solutions in Ports is hard, as we can learn from the governance of Port Community Systems. The design tools and technology & use case descriptions of D7.8 will help a Governance Designer to navigate the complex landscape of a port ecosystem. This will accelerate the design of the right governance of the ETS, produce trust among ecosystem participants, foster trust in technology, and prevent the Governance Designer from making preventable mistakes.

The technology- and use case descriptions, design tools, design principles, digital twin growth model, and policy recommendation of D7.8 are applicable to all ports that need to leverage digital solutions, now or in the near future, to green their operations. The report is relevant for all ports, regardless of their current digital maturity.

The Governance Framework (GF) consists of nineteen components across four dimensions: purpose, incentives, institutional setting and operating system. Each component needs to be addressed in cohesion with the others. The underlying idea is that good governance will lead to trust, which in turn will lead to adoption of the digital technology stack. The Conceptual Trust Model (CTM) gives the Governance Designer the in-depth understanding of other factors in the port ecosystem that increase or reduce trust. A Digital Twin Growth Model (DTGM) provides a maturity model for RoadMap Driven Development of the core layer of the ETS, and extends the DT view to other use cases like logistics and GHG emissions. Comparison of two energy matching cases provide valuable insights and lesson learnt. Guidance on how different models of “governance with EMS technology” (centralized, hybrid, decentralized) fit with the MAGPIE EMT is given. Also included are four design principles and three policy recommendations. D7.8 aims to provide a ‘handbook’ for the Governance Designer who must work side by side with the builders of the digital solutions for the greening of ports.

The “Governance of digital solutions” Handbook impacts the speed of adoption and potential scope of digital solutions for the greening of ports. Good governance drives trust, which drives adoption, which ultimately drives impact, i.e. realizing the port’s green ambitions. Without good governance, digital solutions are destined to fail.

First of all, the intrinsic capability of the digital solution itself must be in order for the governance to make a difference. By working on good (data) governance it is possible to attract more expertise and resources to build a good digital solution. Hence our recommendation to design the technology and governance in parallel. Secondly, a culture of innovation and a mindset that digital solutions can indeed help solve societal problems, galvanizes implementation and change mgt.

Close collaboration between the builders of the digital solutions, the strategists that define the greening policies and targets, and the governance designers is essential. Within the ecosystem the role of neutral and trusted party helps to provide the initial impetus for considering and developing digital solutions for greening port ecosystems.