Technological drivers of seaports' business model innovation: an exploratory case study on the port of Barcelona

Abstract

The role of seaports has evolved from being simple sea/land interfaces to becoming increasingly value-adding entities in global supply chains. A port that is today at the forefront of this trend is characterized as a fifth generation (5G) port, a “smart port” or, more recently, a Port 4.0. These characterisations, introduced by Maritime Studies literature, are closely equivalent to the business model concept developed by the Strategic Management literature in the last decades. [...]