A common language for logistics services interoperability

Transport logistics is immersed in a world-wide changing process. The fluctuating market necessities, the distribution of production facilities, the influence of the emerging economies and the environmental compromise force transport logistics services to be as dynamic as possible, answering to real-time events while improving their reliability, efficiency and accuracy. But the transport logistics chain is made up of actors using their own information systems (IS) for the daily management. Although several standards from the logistics world are used for message exchange, there is still a need of agreement on using the same language while preserving the internal way of operation at each company. The solution to this need opens a new horizon in providing access to information in a common language (taking advantage of existing standards). This common language would allow deploying real-time cooperative planning algorithms to find the best route attending to criteria such as the most green, quick, economic and/or safe route as well as algorithms able to react to real-time events (e.g. delays, accidents, breakdowns). In this paper, it is explained how a common language, the Common Framework for ICT (CF) in transport and logistics, was developed; how this language is implemented by ontology means and the development of ontology-based ICT tools. Tools allowing the creation of an environment where transport logistics chain's actors remain using their own IS while they are real-time situational-aware; and,additionally, proving a low entry-cost interoperability solution thanks to the avoidance of a costly shared and centralized ICT infrastructure usage.