California Ports Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Advance Data System Development

Recommendation: Invest in a cross-agency information-sharing pilot to cut cargo cycle times by 15% within six months. This requires targeted investment in interoperable information practices, with the governor and the state coordinating a shared governance layer to accelerate decision-making and avoid handoffs that stall freight flows.

In a first-of-its-kind move, authorities from Oakland, hueneme, and diego corridors will align technology standards, privacy rules, and operational protocols, enabling ορατότητα into movement of freight and cargo across chokepoints. The effort will be implemented through cooperation agreements and working groups that meet weekly to map dependencies and timelines.

Key challenges include antiquated legacy records, ticketing fragmentation, and the need for technological interoperability across agencies. To keep momentum, the plan calls for a phased approach: a pilot in the next quarter, then scale to all harbors in the movement by year-end, with a focus on investment in cybersecurity and in scalable interfaces that can support καινοτομία.

Beyond agility, the initiative aims to lift αποτελεσματικότητα και ορατότητα του φορτίο streams, improving predictability for trucking, rail, and terminal operators. The plan includes regional investment in hueneme and oakland yards, and a targeted καινοτομία program that tests real-time information sharing while preserving privacy.

To win support, leadership will publish quarterly progress dashboards that deliver ορατότητα into the movement of cargo and the status of crucial milestones, enabling cooperation across harbors, shippers, and trucking firms. This movement will empower oakland και hueneme facilities to synchronize schedules with diego-area logistics, underscoring the value of together action by mario, the governor’s office, and private partners.

What are the MoU’s concrete objectives and expected outcomes for data system development?

Recommendation: establish a first-of-its-kind, interoperable information backbone that links freight stakeholders along the supply chain, from docks to inland terminals. Director cordero will lead a cross-agency team to define a common information framework, set governance, and align investment streams. The program will connect across docks, warehouses, and chain segments, supported by a long-term investment and funds included in this year’s budget. This initiative will enable together action across business sectors through enhanced coordination and technological upgrades to reduce delays and improve throughput.

Structure and governance

Objectives include standardizing event records and information exchange formats so that different players can share essential information in real time. The arrangement will establish a governing council, including public agencies and private-sector partners, to manage security, privacy, and access controls, and to ensure funds are deployed efficiently. It will wake up the governor’s directive for modernization, aligning with a plan to invest in a digital framework that works through cooperation and technological upgrades.

Performance targets and funding

Expected outcomes: reduced past delays, lower dwell times, and smoother throughput across the freight chain. The program will track metrics such as cargo movement velocity, throughput per shift, and cost per movement, with quarterly reporting to stakeholders. A first-of-its-kind approach will deliver a scalable platform that supports goods movement across sectors, backed by included budget items and funds from investment channels. This aligns with the governor’s wake and the long-term plan, with ongoing support from the director and others to keep momentum.

Who governs the project and how are roles and responsibilities shared among ports, agencies, and partners?

Recommendation: Establish a formal governance charter with a Steering Council, a Program Management Office, and cross-port working groups, all with clear decision rights and a public, quarterly reporting cadence.

Roles and responsibilities: The Steering Council, co-led by the oakland port authority and the diego-area port commission, sets policy directions and approves budgets in a first-of-its-kind, cross-port framework. A Program Management Office handles day-to-day coordination, risk management, and performance reporting. Working groups focus on operations, technology, and regulatory alignment. Each port designates a primary liaison, with agency partners providing subject-matter leads. mario cordero serves as senior adviser to ensure strategic alignment with the governor and legislature, and to translate priorities into actionable milestones. hueneme representation is integrated through a dedicated liaison to keep the coastal segment aligned with inland hubs.

Governance mechanics: The charter codifies a formal escalation path for delays and bottlenecks, monthly reviews of milestones, and quarterly public updates. A risk and issue log tracks challenges such as workforce shortages, supply-chain disruptions, and funding gaps, while a cross-agency sign-off process protects the integrity of major decisions. This structure supports further cooperation across harbors and agencies, and it underlines the importance of stakeholder engagement across the chain.

Structure and accountability

Operational practice: The governance emphasizes end-to-end visibility into freight movement, with shared dashboards and standardized metrics that inform decisions and enable swift corrective actions. The plan reinforces support for ports, the governor’s office, the legislature, and private-sector partners to realize the opportunity to improve efficiency and reduce delays, while sustaining long-term investment in infrastructure and technology across california.

Long-term outlook: The framework aligns investment with a strategic, long-term vision that strengthens movement, improves competitiveness, and enhances the economy. By balancing local autonomy with centralized oversight, the initiative can scale from Oakland to Diego and beyond, leveraging more collaboration, innovation, and sustainable growth across the ports ecosystem.

Which data standards, interoperability protocols, and sharing formats will guide the system?

Recommendation: Establish an end-to-end interoperability framework anchored by an agreement among state agencies, freight operators, and industry associations. This approach will improve information flow and reduce delays, particularly in multi-agency and cross-sector processes, by enabling real-time visibility from origin to destination. The plan should be led by a cross-functional team including myers and mario, with ongoing involvement from the legislature and business community together. The goal is to move cooperation forward across sectors, align funds for priority corridors, and deliver tangible efficiency gains through collaboration.

Standards and formats to adopt: Use UN/CEFACT-based schemas for freight events; ISO 8601 for timestamps; semantic alignment with JSON-LD; metadata vocabularies anchored in DC Terms; payloads in JSON and XML for operational messages, CSV for bulk extracts, and RDF for linked records. APIs should follow OpenAPI; secure access through OAuth 2.0; transport security via TLS 1.2+. For event-driven updates, employ WebHooks or MQTT; for file transfers, rely on SFTP. This approach ensures cross-platform compatibility across channels and supports end-to-end traceability from loading dock to final mile.

The plan will be piloted in three corridors, including the angeles area and oakland approaches, with californias legislature approving funds for onboarding, training, and interface development. The initiative addresses past challenges by standardizing protocols, breaking silos, and delivering a transparent, business-friendly framework. Agencies and private-sector players will collaborate in a first-of-its-kind agreement to deliver measurable improvements in efficiency and speed across the freight movement chain.

The governance body will be built on cooperation and include representatives from industry, agencies, and the legislature. It will publish an essential, rolling plan and quarterly dashboards. The plan will require sectors to adopt the agreed formats and interfaces, with ongoing updates across the movement ecosystem. This will reduce delays, deliver more predictable performance, and unlock new business models for shippers and terminal operators alike.

How will privacy, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance be addressed and audited?

Recommendation: appoint Director Cordero to lead a technological, end-to-end privacy and protection program across the movement of goods from angeles docks through hueneme and inland yards, reporting to the governor. Establish a cross-agency oversight board, supported by funds and private investment, to ensure compliance, transparency, and continuous improvement. Align with strategic objectives to fortify cooperation, improve freight reliability, and advance greener cargo in californias economy.

• Governance and accountability: formal charter; director with direct access to the governor; quarterly reviews; Myers as external liaison; clear escalation paths for emerging threats.
• Privacy safeguards: privacy-by-design; information minimization; retention schedules; encryption for critical information flows; robust access controls; information lineage and deletion policies; annual privacy risk assessments tied to major cargo moves (angeles to inland yards).
• Cybersecurity controls: zero-trust architecture; multi-factor authentication; network segmentation; continuous monitoring; automated alerting; red-team exercises; incident response playbooks with defined recovery objectives; end-to-end protection for information sharing among partners.
• Regulatory compliance and audits: alignment with NIST, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 Type II standards; annual external assessments; internal remediation tracking; centralized evidence repository; high-level public summaries for oversight bodies.
• Vendor and supply chain risk management: pre-qualification and ongoing risk assessments for third parties; contractually mandated security controls; cyber insurance requirements; monitor information exchanges between shippers, trucking providers, and facility operators to minimize exposure.
• Transparency, metrics, and continuous improvement: public dashboards showing incident counts, mean time to detect and respond, remediation timelines; quarterly updates to the governor; tie improvements to californias economic strategy and innovation funding.
• Funding and investment strategy: allocate funds from the state budget and attract private investment; leverage federal opportunities to accelerate secure information flows; incentivize greener logistics across angeles and inland networks; address challenges while pursuing opportunity for growth in the economy.

What is the implementation timeline, including pilot projects, funding sources, and key milestones?

Adopt a phased rollout starting with two pilots within the next 12 months, funded through a mix of state legislature allocations and federal freight grants, with a director leading a cross-agency team. This prioritizes end-to-end information flows to improve efficiency, reduce bottlenecks, and support the economy by moving goods more predictably through docks and gate complexes.

Pilot A tests cross-dock and inland movement at three docks, establishing a baseline for real-time information exchange and automated ETA forecasting; Pilot B connects rail and trucking partners to the same platform to measure end-to-end visibility across corridors. Both pilots include privacy controls, security safeguards, and a clear success metric set that includes on-time movement and reduced yard congestion. The included governance structure will ensure that learnings translate into scalable steps. This is particularly important in the wake of ongoing supply-chain challenges.

Funding sources span: a state-level appropriation approved by the legislature, complemented by federal grants aimed at modernizing freight corridors, and matched contributions from gateway authorities and private-sector participants. This mix supports an essential, sustainable investment and reduces the risk of reliance on a single funding stream. The plan also contemplates local matching funds and in-kind support from terminal operators, equipment owners, and logistics providers.

Key milestones: 1) governance charter and procurement plan approved within 6 weeks; 2) baseline architecture and security framework ready; 3) pilot kickoff at two docks by Q3; 4) mid-year evaluation showing improvements in efficiency and predicted cost reductions; 5) a first-of-its-kind integrated information-sharing layer deployed across the corridor; 6) expansion to two additional facilities; 7) full-scale rollout by the end of year two; 8) ongoing monitoring with quarterly reviews by the director and the legislature. This sequence is essential to understanding the path forward, and it highlights challenges that must be addressed, such as information governance and cybersecurity, while creating opportunities to wake a more resilient movement that supports the economy.