Platform: NLIP
Coverage area: Netherlands, including incoming and outcoming goods
Stakeholders: Branch organisation for air cargo (ACN), port community system organisations in the Dutch mainports (Cargonaut, Portbase), shipper’s association (EVO), Dutch Government (represented by the ministry of Economic Affairs, but also the ministries of Finance and Infrastructure are stakeholders, as are the Tax and Customs Administration and other organisations), port authorities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam and their shareholders, Schiphol airport, business association for transport and logistics (TLN), branch oragnisations for forwarders and logistics (FENEX), the association for Rotterdam ship brokers (VLC) and terminal operators (VRTO). Later, also some members of the branch associations were involved directly, as were other parties such as FloraHolland.
Organisation and management: The platform was commissioned by the Topsector Logistics, as part of the Dutch Topsector policy. A covenant was signed between the parties involved, securing commitment to the overall vision. Formal governance consists of a steering group and a sounding board. There is a programme manager and a secretariat (‘NLIP team’) for day-to-day management.
Source of funding: The central government pays for the programme, often in the form of subsidies for specific projects or developments (such as certain functionality on the platform). Co-funding by the private sector is also common. Recently, the programme manager changed awarding funding from subsidies to contracts, allowing for more direct control over the various activities in the NLIP programme.
Initial investment: Unknown. The total budget made available by government and businesses for the entire topsector was initially €155M, but this was allocated to six programmes (NLIP being one of them).
Development history: This programme started in 2010, with the idea of creating one information platform (building on existing platforms), based on a process aimed at agreeing on (technical) standards, functionality and governance. The NLIP is not a platform itself, but a set of standards, guidelines and agreements used for joining up existing information platforms and message brokers, such as the existing port community systems and the government’s e-message portal. The programme supported the development of specific use- and business cases, resolving legal and governance issues that came up with specific implementations, and the adding of new value-added functionality. The success of the overall development as a platform is mixed at best.
Modes of transport included: cargo, including containers over sea, airfreight, truck, barge, rail.
Service Features: one-stop-shop reporting, data re-use, reduction of administrative burden, chain optimisation, digitisation of forms, support government inspections.
Source of data: the business community (primarily carriers, terminals, freight forwarders, or their respective agents), through the community systems. The supply of information from government to the business community (e.g. inspections or container release) were also in scope, but ran into legal hurdles.
Data flow: the main source of the information is the data involved in business-to-government reporting, whether supplied to government directly, or via port community systems. Especially the flow through community systems led to discussions about data ownership, re-use of data for new functionality and services, and various data rights and (perceived) vulnerabilities related to data sharing.
Open data policy: none, data is not open, the commercial stakes are too high. Furthermore, cargo-related information may not always be shared due to reasons of security, confidentiality and data protection legislation.
Continuity: once the financial support of government ends (currently not foreseen), continuity will depend on business cases for data sharing, and on business models for components of the platform (as a system-of-systems). The underlying vision would upset the business models of quite a number of parties in the supply chain, which leads to resistance. Should the programme end now, the lasting impact is likely to be limited.
Miscellaneous: this is an a-typical case for the PETRA project, as it does not concern personal mobility but is focused on cargo. Yet, it is a very rich case in which a diverse business community and a government community (also quite diverse) collaboratively work on a data platform. The actor complexity is high and a number of legal, organisational and governance issues come up that are relevant to infomobility platforms. Given that we are able to study close to 6 years of this case, it offers valuable insights that are relevant to the broader topic.