In Port News 05/06/2015
Ports should embrace an increasingly data driven world, rather than view the data revolution as a threat.
Delegates at the IAPH conference in Hamburg this week have been encouraged to seize the opportunities offered by the smart solutions available to today’s ports.
“Smart ports create jobs, attract foreign investment and it’s relatively easy to make energy savings of 30%-40%. There’s a lot to optimise in ports,” said Wim Elfrink, executive vice president industry solutions and chief globalisation officer CISCO. But that progression needs to be supported by thought leadership, smart regulations, and public/private partnerships, he added.
“Smarts ports are about sustainability and smart solutions. It’s not about big data; it’s about how to make data useful and intelligent,” Mr Elfrink told the conference. “IT is just a tool, not a solution. It is an enabler, and one that we should use wisely.”
He added that it’s “relatively easy” for ports that welcome new technology and smart solutions to dramatically increase profits.
However, Mr Elfrink said that industry on the whole is not ‘IT ready’ and he encouraged ports making ten-year plans to include an IT strategy. “IT has always been an afterthought in ports,” he said. “Write an IT chapter for your business plan and really embrace it.”
“My advice if think big, start small,” added Volker Worthmann, director transport & logistics, Lufthansa Industry Solutions. “Data is the key for efficiency in every industry, not just the port industry.”
Hamburg Port Authority chairman Jens Meier said that smart port technology is accessible for both large and small ports. “When we started the Hamburg smartPORT project we started with a small pilot with roughly 100 trucks. The cost of the whole project was about E10,000. You have to use your existing technologies and evaluate what you already have in your port,” he said.
