ENVISIONING THE PORT OF THE FUTURE
The Port of the Future will not “just happen”. It has to be a place of renewal and innovation. A place of thinking ahead, of striving for better, of exploring and pushing back horizons. In short, it is a place driven by innovation. And without this progressive mindset, we can never reach out to the furthest corners of the world.
We must adapt, develop and transform. We must innovate. This means that things do not always go smoothly from the beginning, or that they need to be adjusted and redirected. Curious to find out what the Port of Future should be involved in at the moment? Want to find out about the steps to be taken to enable it to sail full steam ahead into the future?
The Port Authorities begin to use blockchain as a start-up. It has developed a solution to make document flows safer and more efficient. Documents, such as certificates of origin, are transferred via blockchain technology and the document flow is automated by means of “Smart Contracts”.
With the pilot project, one can transfer the certificates in the supply chain from end to end much faster and then transfer them to the competent authorities in any part of the world.
This way, everyone has immediate access to the latest information, and preparations and checks can be made faster.
Blockchain technology guarantees that the authenticity of the certificates has not been tampered with and one can retrieve the origin of the documents
in real time. To test specific blockchain components, one must know the new way of working, which is now fully digital. With the results of this pilot project, one will see which adjustments are needed to consider a possible further rollout.
Work is being done on a digital version of the port, complete with real-time information. Technology is also looking at how containers and their cargoes can be better secured using blockchain technology.
“Drone” is the collective name used for unmanned vehicles and vessels. Land, air and water drones will make it easier to conduct inspections and carry out logistical tasks in the port. Tests with these drones are underway. ECHO-DRONE — THE AUTONOMOUS DEPTHSOUNDING BOAT
To guarantee the safe passage for shipping, soundings on water depths need to be carried out regularly. These soundings provide a view of the current water depth at moorings and enable maintenance dredging work to be scheduled if necessary.
Based on the need to supplement the work done by the depth-sounding boat, Echo, a technology has been developed to create an autonomous depth-sounding vessel — the Echo-drone.
It is the prototype of an autonomous depth-sounding craft and has been developed to carry out depth measurements in those hard-toreach areas in the port zone. The Echo-drone operates in addition to the Echo, the manned depth-sounding boat. The Echo-drone, on the other hand, uses cloud technology.
It is hard to imagine the world without blockchain, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning as they have become part of our society. These future technologies may demonstrate their worth in the port.
“Working together” is the buzzword for the future. If you want to build digital platforms for bringing a whole range of data together, having the agreement of various parties involved to share the data needed is essential.
They must be working on transparent data exchange, finding synergies and supporting exciting initiatives related to the Internet of Things, as well as digitisation and marine innovations.
They must be doing so with the whole port community, plus the logistics chain, as well as with companies and organisations far beyond the immediate area.
The undergoing structural changes that put shipping and ports industry under pressure and driving the need for innovation is the key theme of Port of the Future.
The suggestions that will move forward the port industry:
• The future of the ports is challenging but bright since innovation will have a greater role to play and will enable the port to generate significant value for customers, shareholders and employees;
• The regulator and port authority must strive to guide ports through these turbulent times, as well as facilitate them in this process of change;
• Collaboration is critical on both the horizontal- and vertical-level, and nurturing an ecosystem where innovation can thrive is now essential;
• Rethink how change is currently managed in port and develop specific strategies for transformational innovations; and,
• Ports need to manage the risks of innovation proactively and prepare the workforce and organisations for the impact of digitalisation and automation.