Nuove tecnologie digitali e servizi portuali: il ruolo delle città

The port city plays an important role in managing the change due to new technologies and new business models affecting the maritime industry. On the one hand, the evolution of the port services is going to modify the labor organization of the town itself, as far as the road traffic, the public infrastructures and the local labor market are concerned. On the other hand, the public institutions can foster the innovation of the maritime industry by supporting public investments, and the diffusion of new technologies among small firms. Maritime industry and local public institutions have to cooperate in order to maximizing positive effects of new technologies, minimizing the negative impact on labor market. Within this scenario, characterized by industry evolution and policy interventions, our paper analyzes the effects of new technologies on port services and city organization. The paper describes the new technological paradigm of "industry 4.0", as an integration of different new and old technologies, and the main effects of their implementation on the Italian maritime industry characterized by a high percentage of small traditional companies. The policy that local institutions could implement in order to manage the change in the maritime industry is quite complex, as it should support the company's investments in new technologies, on the one hand, and take care of the workers that such a change is going to affect, on the other hand. Maybe, the best policy is based on a higher education and training of the maritime workers to fit their skills to the new technological paradigm.