Jamaica taps French firm to design port community system

Jamaica will use SOGET’s port community system to provide a single platform for submission of key logistics and compliance data as the country looks to grow its container volumes after the completion of the Panama Canal expansion.    The French port community system software provider SOGET has signed a contract with the Port Authority of Jamaica to build and implement a system at the Caribbean nation’s ports.
   The project will be the largest port community system in the Americas, covering eight seaports and airports. Jamaica is the eighth country to use SOGET to build such a system.
   Kingston is the seventh largest port in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 1.6 million TEUs handled in 2014. The port authority expects the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2016 to significantly increase Jamaica’s position as a transshipment and logistics hub.
   The port community system is intended to provide a single portal for submission of required logistics, transportation, and regulatory data. SOGET said its system is a “a neutral and open electronic collaborative platform enabling intelligent and secure exchange of information between public and private stakeholders in order to improve the competitive position of the sea and air port’s communities.”
   Gordon Shirley, chairman and chief executive officer of the Port Authority of Jamaica, said implementation of the system will be a “game changer” and would help the company meet the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement mandates.
   SOGET said it will partner with Bureau Veritas BIVAC to implement the system.