International classification society RINA is co-ordinating, on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Transport, a Euro16m EU-funded project to develop a new information highway for shipping and logistics. The Multimodal Interoperability E-services for Logistics and Environment sustainability (MIELE) project falls under the TEN-T EA Trans European Transport Network Executive Agency and brings together authorities, ports, terminals and shipping and logistics operators in five countries with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) providers to deliver a pilot system which will speed data interchange throughout the logistics chain, with special emphasis on the ship-shore interface.

Mario Dogliani, head of research and development for RINA, says, “Cutting out bottlenecks in information flows will speed the movement of goods around Europe. Today each port and country has its own information systems. We want to devise a middleware system so that everyone talks to everyone else in the same language. It is a move towards the ideal of a single window communication for logistics information. At the same time as the EU is building the motorways of the sea, we are building an information highway for shipping.”

Partners in the project include RINA, Grimaldi Napoli, The Italian Ministry of Transport, Terminal San Giorgio, Cyprus Port Authority, IPTM (the Portuguese Agency in charge of Ports and Maritime Transport), Gijon Port Authority, Lisbon and Leixoes port authorities, Jacobs University, Spain’s CIMNE, ICT companies Compass (Spain), IB (Italy) and CAP (Italy) and PLAZA (the Logistic Platform of Zaragoza).

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