Baltic ports unite for digital transformation – LMT and partners launch cross-border agreement to advance 5G and smart port innovation.
Challenge
Ports across the Baltic Sea are vital nodes in Europe’s logistics network – but their growing complexity also brings new challenges. Managing large-scale infrastructure, ensuring cybersecurity, and integrating digital systems across different national frameworks are key issues that demand innovative, cooperative solutions.
Both Latvian and German ports face similar goals: improving operational efficiency, resilience, and sustainability while navigating the rapid pace of digital transformation.
Solution: Cross-border collaboration for digital port innovation
To address these challenges, public and private partners from Latvia and Germany – including LMT, the Freeport of Riga, the Port of Hamburg, the Electronic Communications Office of Latvia, LVR Flote, and the Fleet of Hamburg – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focused on advancing digital innovation in maritime technologies.
The partnership aims to strengthen collaboration between Baltic Sea ports through shared pilot projects and proof-of-concept demonstrations. Over the next two years, two dedicated working groups will lead this effort:
- Port Connectivity Working Group – implementing next-generation mobile network infrastructure, including private 5G networks for secure and efficient port operations.
- Smart Infrastructure & Cybersecurity Working Group – developing intelligent infrastructure monitoring, AI-driven analytics, and cybersecurity frameworks for connected port environments.
These workgroups will gather for follow-up meetings and matchmaking workshops, during which they will define detailed plans and coordinate pilot activities.
The initiative is coordinated by LMT Innovation Development Lead Arturs Lindenbergs, ensuring that all stakeholders align on strategic goals and implementation timelines.
This collaboration builds on years of Latvian–German cooperation in port innovation, including recent joint 5G demonstrations in Riga and Hamburg that showcased connectivity solutions for maritime applications.
Ports are a critical part of national and international infrastructure. It’s equally important that they adopt new technologies to not only improve security and resilience, but also increase their capabilities to future-proof their operations. With LMT, we’ve been fine-tuning maritime connectivity for several years, for which we also won the prestigious International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAHP) sustainability award in the Digitalization category, beating 71 ports. This is the future of port management, and Riga and Hamburg will be leading the way.
Ingmārs Pūķis, Vice President, LMT