Marine Transportation System Technology Revolution Digitalization Achieving a maritime security advantage by luKe ritter Senior Vice President, Maritime ARES Security Corporation T he term “smart port,” a label with many defini- tions that can be used to describe a variety of different maritime initiatives, is appearing regu- marK duPont Executive Director National Maritime Law Enforcement Academy some catching up to do, as stated in a report published by Deloitte titled Smart Port—Point of View.4 Seaports are playing catch-up with the large transport & logistics players when it comes to developing insight driven solutions and IoT applications…. Even though some ports today are starting to come to terms with the importance and need for digitalization and IoT, there is still a long road ahead to get to relatively mature smart port concepts. This comment is echoed in the Port Technology article, “Although the maritime industry is often criticized for being too conservative and resistant to change, there are digital technologies, systems and solutions emerging in the maritime that will alter this perception.” The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term used to describe devices, other than computers and smart phones, that connect to the internet. Digitalization: The Importance and the First Steps In the United States, port security can digitalize to achieve a higher level of security competency, prepared- ness, and resilience. By driving maritime critical infra- structure into the digital age, maritime security leaders have an opportunity to facilitate change that can achieve multiple advantages, including: • increased productivity • lower operational costs • enhanced decision making • improved information security • process automation • increased agility and mobility Creating a digital twin is one of the first and most fundamental investments a port can make in pursuing a digital security advantage. By creating a digital twin, port security professionals establish a virtual representation larly in trade journals and other industry news. One of the most compelling examples of putting “smart” into the maritime domain has to do with going digital, and digitalization has the potential to provide any port enter- prise with a maritime security advantage. For the purposes of this discussion, we will use a def- inition that supports security management and anchors any approach to becoming more secure and resilient. Published in a 2021 Port Technology 1 article, a smart port was defined as one “that uses automation and innova- tive technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), big data, Internet of Things (IoT) … to improve its per- formance.” Those last four words are important, and are what sophisticated, mature enterprises tend to pursue— continual, incremental improvement. Opportunities to improve performance, in maritime security, exist through the application of digitalization, modeling, and simulation. Digitization, “the process of converting information into a digital, or computer- readable, format.” 2 is a fundamental pre-requisite—a building block—for establishing a technology baseline that supports and fosters innovation. Digitalizing security functions follows as the next logical step up from digitization, and is defined by research and advisory firm Gartner as “the use of digi- tal technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; it is the process of moving to a digital business.” 3 To simplify, owners of maritime critical infrastructure that digitalize their enterprise create an opportunity to use advanced technology in a way that optimizes security require- ments, while lowering specific operational costs. The return on investment associated with becom- ing a smart port is compelling. Security threats in the maritime domain are persistent, and pervasive, and geopolitical issues are creating new security challenges for ports around the world. There is no better time than the present to digitalize to achieve a maritime security advantage. But as an industry, the maritime sector has 46 Proceedings Summer 2023