The Government of Finland has issued a resolution on the digitalisation of freight transport data. According to the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the aim of the resolution is to boost the digitalisation of the logistics sector and promote new business opportunities. It also paves the way for Finland as a hub for international transport and supports emission reduction targets in the transport sector. The resolution is part of the Government key project on building a growth environment for digital businesses.
“Digitalisation, urbanisation and growth of online business increase the importance of short-distance logistics. We must develop new consumer-oriented services and business models. The operating models of the sharing economy will also be adopted in freight transport,” says Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner.
“Finland is a global leader in promoting the “mobility as a service” thinking. It is important that this expertise will be utilised in freight logistics, too,” Minister Berner states.
She says that a lot of air is being transported nationally and internationally, in other words the transportation capacity is not being used to its full potential.
“This is expensive and inefficient for all the parties involved. More efficient use of the transportation capacity is also important for achieving the climate and emission targets,” she says.
Better utilisation of data is an essential question in digitalisation. The movement of goods must be directed by data.
The resolution includes four goals: Flow of information in and between the logistics chains must be substantially improved and the efficiency of short-distance logistics increased, efforts must be focused on developing intelligent automation in logistics and the digitalisation of ports must be boosted. National and EU regulation on information security and confidentiality of commercial, industrial and personal data must be carefully observed in everything that is done.
The set of measures in the resolution includes regulation, networked cooperation, promotion of tests and pilot projects, increase in the competence levels, and advocacy work in the European Union and on international forums.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications launched an open logistics digitalisation network in the autumn. The resolution was drafted together with the network and will be implemented in close cooperation with the sector.