Time and place
- Trial Lecture at 10.15 - 11.00 in room B-137
- Defence starts at 12.15 in room B-137
Trial lecture title:
"Ports’ Digital transformations (DT) impact on their competitiveness: Challenges and opportunities presented in the literature, and possible research avenues forward."
Supervisors
- Primary supervisor, Associate Professor Berit Irene Helgheim, Faculty of Logistics, Molde University College
- Secondary supervisor, Professor Svein Bråthen, Faculty of Logistics, Molde University College
Adjudication committee
- Professor Rickard Bergqvist, Gothenburg University
- Professor Halvor Schøyen, University of South-Eastern Norway
- Professor Lisa Hansson, Molde University College – Specialized University in Logistics
Chair of defence
Professor Harald Martin Hjelle, Faculty of Logistics, Molde University College
Summary
Background
Maritime ports are the backbone of global trade, handling over 80% of the world’s goods by volume. In recent years, ports have faced growing pressure to modernize through digital transformation by using technologies such as data analytics, automation, and digital platforms to make operations more efficient, transparent, and sustainable.
Despite the clear benefits, many ports struggle to adopt digital technologies successfully. Progress has been uneven and often slower than expected. Previous research has focused mainly on the technical aspects of digitalization, paying less attention to the organizational, social, and political factors that shape how ports change. This thesis builds on that gap by exploring why digital transformation in ports is difficult to achieve in practice and how can top executives navigate it.
Findings
The thesis investigates why maritime ports are slow to implement digital transformation successfully, despite their critical relevance in the global freight transport, handling more than 80% of global merchandise by volume.
Through a series of four interconnected studies- combining a systematic literature review and multi-method case studies from the Port of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, the research reveals that successful digital transformation in ports depends on more than just technology.
The findings show that stakeholders' lack of collaboration, divergent interests, and power struggles, all play crucial roles in shaping digital progress. The study concludes that ports can move forward by embracing the digital ecosystem as the new normal, preserving knowledge from implementation efforts, and balancing new technology investments with the capacity to use them effectively.
The research consists of four interrelated papers focused on digital transformation in maritime ports. Paper 1, a systematic literature review, develops a framework of maritime-specific concepts to advance scientific discussion on port digitalization. It also identifies and ranks 32 key concepts, offering insights that can inform targeted interventions for digital transformation in ports. Papers 2–4 extend established theories: Principal–Agent Theory, the Technology–Organization–Environment framework, and Absorptive Capacity Theory, within the port context. These theoretical extensions improve understanding of how digital transformation takes shape in port ecosystems, strengthening both academic research and practical approaches to port modernization.
Benjamin Mosses Sakita (42) comes from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from the University of Dar es Salaam, obtained in 2011. He holds a Master of Science degree in Logistics from Molde University College, obtained in 2015. During his PhD work, Benjamin has been financed as a doctoral research fellow at Molde University College.