# Towards a Reference Architecture for Cargo Ports
## 7 Value and Use of the Reference Architecture in Cargo Port Design and Operation  
The design of a cargo port is a major endeavor and is performed in three basic stages: A conceptual design is done first for deciding aspects such as location, capacity, personnel, cost, regulations, etc. [60]. This is followed by a detailed design indicating the number and placement of buildings, number of cranes, level of automation, functional distribution of zones, interactions with external organizations, compliance with regulations, security requirements, etc. [61; 62]. Finally, the software design of the complete facility is done, for which our reference architecture would be used. This stage involves experts in ports, CPSs, and software (architects and developers). The increasing automation of ports requires an increasing amount of software to coordinate and monitor operations as well as describe the functions of the components [63]. As indicated earlier, [PERSON] et al. [59] addressed the benefits and drawbacks of using RAs in industry practice from the perspective of different stakeholders involved in their design and usage. They estimated the value and risks of building and using an RA for a particular domain. Their study revealed that not all organizations realize the theoretical benefits of RAs; most only realize a subset of these benefits. They revealed that one main drawback was the additional learning curve experienced by application developers who use the RA, causing higher time to market and high complexity when they do not aim to facilitate the development of applications. They concluded that different stakeholders present different concerns. For software architects, standardization and reliability were the key benefits of using RAs, whereas for application developers, it was the use of the latest technologies. [PERSON] et al. [23] give a list of the advantages of having a reference architecture for enterprises. Some of the practical uses of a model like ours include:  
1. RAs aggregate knowledge and design expertise in a specific domain [23]. This knowledge can be reused to build new ports and improve existing ones. 2. Holistic and unified models such as RAs are useful for gaining understanding of a complex system and its limitations. Cargo ports are very complex systems, and having an abstract architecture free of implementation details is very important to understanding the system. 3. An RA serves as a way to decompose a complex system into simpler and more coherent parts that can be assigned to different types of specialists. 4. Automation is now a basic objective to increase efficiency and reduce costs, and an RA can provide a perspective on how the automation of parts of the system contributes to the efficiency of port operation. 5. UML models used to represent the RA provide more precision as compared to other descriptions such as block diagrams. 6. We can contribute to the standardization of concrete architectures by using the RA as a template. Standardization can accelerate automation and reduce costs [63]. 7. An RA serves as a way to unify terminology and make it easier to train the developers, system architects, and administrators so they become familiar with the platforms and processes. 8. Abstract representational models of the cargo port components in the RA help address heterogeneity; this is accomplished by focusing on the general categories of the system and grouping them on the basis of similarities in structure and functionality. 9. We can identify common functionalities and configurations to encourage reuse in new projects. 10. RAs support interoperability among different applications and their components by establishing common mechanisms for information exchange. 11. RAs can serve as a guideline to indicate where to add defenses for the expected threats and for adding security monitoring in the physical port. 12 Security, compliance, privacy, safety, reliability, and governance can all be improved by the use of these models.