Use cases for technology to boost digital transformation

^{Smart ports in the UK.}

In 2019, the UK Government laid out a 30-year vision for the maritime industry – called Maritime 2050 – with a strong focus on the potential of technology to improve the efficiency, sustainability and resilience of the country’s critical supply chains. This Maritime 2050 vision was well received by port authorities, but at Royal HaskoningDHV, we wanted to take it further and consider what practical steps could be taken to push forward the use of digital tools to bring to life these improvements to our industry. Our Smart Ports team , in partnership with Connected Places Catapult, took up the core technology themes from Maritime 2050 and used these as the basis for five use cases.

These use cases centred around real port challenges, making use of existing or soon-to-be feasible technologies in imaginative ways to overcome some typical challenges faced by ports.  This included reduction in city truck congestion for ferry ports by using sensing technology for automated check-in, through to monitoring condition of vital marine assets in harsh sea conditions, along with the application of machine learning to guide cost-effective and timely road repairs in ports.  The imaginative use of existing technology tools can bring reduced environmental and operational impact of our port industry within the wider supply chains. The event to promote our use cases attracted over 300 attendees from across industry and pushed forward this important agenda.