The diverse environment of a seaport, highlighted by a wide range of companies and systems operating on various equipment, creates a dynamic and demanding environment. Modern ports are being transformed into smart ports, which means the application of developed and available solutions that meet current and future challenges. The difficulty is that the transformation into a smart port implies a long-term process and what is innovative today and what makes a port intelligent may not be enough in the future. The existing technical and technological solutions in the port system are focused mainly on digital solutions, which are not sufficient to fully fulfil the tasks of a smart port. Intelligent solutions require integration on many levels, starting from the social, economic and technological dimensions. There is still a long way to go before a complete smart port concept, which is probably not the last step in port development. However, there is no doubt that the leaders of smart ports are European seaports, such as the ports of Hamburg or Rotterdam. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to present smart ports as the next inevitable step of change in the functioning of the port system.