The North Sea harbour of Hamburg is leaping into the future through the integration of 4th industrial revolution innovations like airborne and underwater drone surveillance, comprehensive data-driven management systems, open-source information sharing, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Chief data officer for the Port of Hamburg, Dr Sebastian Saxe, told delegates at a recent Digital Networking conference that the harbour had already succeeded in establishing a comprehensive matrix of interlinking systems to drive road, rail and inland waterway traffic through the Elbe River region. In doing so AI had proved instrumental, he said.
However, it also requires “the introduction of 5G in the port as a test bed will facilitate implementation of further visionary projects”. Another exciting development that’s rollout-ready is the use of underwater drones to monitor quay walls and sediment levels washed down by the Elbe.
Overhead the skies will also be busy as loadbearing cable-inspection will be done through the same kind of automated surveillance that has heralded drone deployment at several of the port’s terminals. In addition, autonomous trucks and paperless customs clearance have been pencilled in on the port’s growing list of bragging rights.
But the hand of humanity should never be overlooked, no matter how smart the technology, said Jan Bovermann, head of corporate development at German logistics and transportation company Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG.
“The digital culture of a company cannot be measured by the number of blockchain projects it launches. Vision, culture, and cooperation are the three crucial factors. That also means staff, customers, service providers and suppliers to the same extent.”
