Smart port performance indicators: future research themes

Abstract

The rapid diffusion of digitalization, automation and sustainability practices has accelerated the transition from conventional ports to smart ports. Despite the expanding literature on smart port technologies, research on performance assessment and performance indicators remains fragmented and largely lacks a holistic perspective. This study aims to systematically review the literature on smart port performance indicators in maritime logistics, identify key research themes and methodological trends and highlight gaps that warrant future research. This study employs a systematic literature review combined with bibliometric analysis to investigate academic publications on smart port performance indicators. Relevant studies were collected from a selected academic database using predefined keywords related to smart ports, performance measurement, digitalization and sustainability. The collected data were analyzed using Biblioshiny to conduct scientific mapping analyses, including thematic evolution, keyword co-occurrence and methodological trend assessment. The findings reveal that although performance, sustainability and digitalization are frequently addressed together in the smart port literature, they are generally examined in a fragmented and non-integrated manner, with performance measurement largely limited to single operational or environmental dimensions. The literature lacks a cumulative and holistic development, indicating the need for integrated research frameworks that link digital technologies, sustainability goals and performance indicators. This study offers a concise synthesis of smart port performance indicator research and highlights future research directions. It provides valuable insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to align performance measurement systems with digitalization, sustainability and strategic management in smart ports.