On January 4th, the CA Port Data Interoperability Grant Program team held a roundtable discussion with all of the participating ports (Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach, Port of Oakland, Port of San Diego, and Port of Hueneme), led by the California Association of Port Authorities (CAPA).

Having CAPA take ownership and lead this discussion was very helpful, as they represent a more neutral party which can hold the interests of all the ports in mind as these new agreements are reached. CAPA also represents the non-containerized ports in CA, and can potentially bring some perspective on interoperability from the smaller ports. The theme of the discussion was how we can use interoperability to help harmonize the data ecosystem. By creating a space for everyone to talk together, we were able to unite on shared stakeholders and data standards, and crucially, collaborate on systems development.

Here’s an overview of what was discussed. Together, we:

• Shared status updates on the proposal progress
• Asked for guidance on getting standardized data from stakeholders
• Collaborated around non-containerized standards development
• Completed some setup for Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) funding opportunities. This part of the discussion centered on how to use this round of state funding to set the ports up for success in future funding opportunities

We’re very happy with how this program is turning out so far, and we look forward to receiving the final grant proposals in February, and then allocating these funds to the participating ports. Thanks again to the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) for making this project happen, and for being a great support to all the stakeholders throughout the process.