The general objective of the project was to identify critical groups for the successful development and deployment of a NPCS (National Port Community System) in Australia, describe the essential characteristics of the system, explore any potential benefits and understand what type of elements would need to be developed to ensure the involvement and participation of the project partners.

Some of the specific objectives were: identify, and wherever possible, quantify any inefficiencies in the supply chain of containers to Australian ports and any resulting costs from inadequate, incomplete and untimely communication or data exchange; research media to tackle the aforementioned inefficiencies and costs including the potential benefits and the role that the PCS would bring; and lastly, if PCS is not a profitable solution, determine the quickest and least expensive way to develop one.