Ports to See $27M Investment in Data Interoperability, Sustainability

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) recently announced the creation of a $27 million Containerized Ports Interoperability Grant Program.

The first-of-its-kind program — a coordinated effort between Build Momentum (Momentum) and Insight Softmax Consulting (ISC) — will fund 10 data interoperability projects at containerized ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, San Diego and Hueneme.

Trelynd Bradley, deputy director for supply chain at GO-Biz, said the investment and strategy is aimed at enhancing the state’s supply chain resilience, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability.

Guided by these objectives, the grant will assist in reaching a broad spectrum of specific solutions, including enhancing cargo-routing efficiency, integrating advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, adopting trucking appointment systems, and creating new data standards for cargo.

Bradley explained that the primary goal of the program is to make “strategic investments in our containerized ports” in response to the supply chain crisis. According to Bradley, the five container ports play a crucial role in the national economy, handling more than 40 percent of all U.S. container imports and about 30 percent of exports.

“We have the largest international freight gateway by total trade value,” Bradley said. “And our outbound shipment value is the highest of any state. So, California’s ports are pivotal to the nation’s goods movement.”

A key component of the project is the collaboration among the ports and other agencies. Bradley pointed out that California’s ports are unique because they are owned by municipal agencies rather than the state, necessitating a higher degree of cooperation.

As such, a memorandum of understanding was established among the ports, committing them to data standardization and sharing. This agreement, set a year before the release of funds, was pivotal in ensuring alignment and reducing risks.

“We wanted to, as much as we can, have cohesion and alignment between them all and help facilitate that because it reduces risk and also increases benefits for all of the stakeholders that use these ecosystems like truckers, railroads, and shipping lines,” Bradley said.

He said that the agency chose the container space for innovation opportunities because it’s where the agency has seen a lot of inertia for data development and standardization.

“There has been a concerted effort from our federal partners to look at the landscape with data and freight and goods movement at ports and be able to think about what the best ways are to address the challenges there,” Bradley said.

This shift toward open data sharing is expected to drive “an enormous wave in data technology application” in freight and goods movement over the next five to 10 years, he added.

Bradley noted that emissions reduction efforts will be a large component of the grant program to address climate change in port-adjacent communities.

“Specifically, there’s a carbon intensity gateway for tracking emissions and a couple of other projects that look at emissions reduction,” he said. “We have an obligation to reduce emissions for communities.”

The investment also aligns closely with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s long-term vision for the state’s supply chain and transportation network.

“We often are the first to try — some people would say — risk-taking efforts with this program, because no one has ever done this with container reports, to our knowledge, in the world,” Bradley remarked. “A lot of people said it would not be possible to get certain private stakeholders to join in and see the value of it, but Gov. Newsom is someone who’s about taking risks and trying things for the first time.”

Bradley believes more agencies will move toward data interoperability efforts, as opposed to the past, where there was more of a gatekeeping approach to data, or it was sold for a high price.

“Now you have this give-and-take scenario that is very productive right now, where everyone sees the value of creating data out in the open to help overcome challenges,” he said.