Best Cisco Rotterdam port welcomes IOT with long-t

Cisco, Rotterdam port welcomes the IOT revolution with long-term planning and innovative technology

16 century,

excavates the port in the mire

entrepot trade played an increasingly important role

has become the largest port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands,

is the port of registry or port of call for more than 500 routes,

leads to more than 1000 ports around the world,

is one of the most important logistics centers in the world

in the face of unprecedented scale and development speed,

as the largest port in Europe,

how can Rotterdam port handle a large number of goods orderly and safely

how to plan for the future

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vincent camphens

digital strategy manager, Rotterdam port, the Netherlands

when you have lived for more than 500 years, you naturally learn to take a long-term view. Now, with the rapid development of technology, how do you see the future? Of course, you have to plan ahead. This is our current work at the port of Rotterdam authority

data brings growth

Rotterdam is the largest and busiest port in Europe, with a total length of 42 km. Every year, 130000 ships, including the world's largest cargo ship, enter and leave our port, handling about 8million containers and more than 468million tons of cargo. We need to make a lot of preparations to ensure the safe passage and docking of these ships and the transfer of goods. To some extent, we are a city within the city, where 3000 enterprises are located, with more than 180000 employees

the goal of Rotterdam Port Authority is to improve the competitive position of Rotterdam port as a logistics hub and world-class industrial complex, not only to achieve superior scale, but also to have excellent quality

one of our biggest challenges is growth

due to the limited land area available for expansion, we must reduce the environmental footprint by 95% by 2050. Therefore, the only way for us to improve our capacity is to streamline our operations so as to better serve the various corporate institutions in the port of Rotterdam, as well as transit ships

the responsibility of the port authority is to ensure that the ship business is handled in a safe, smooth, clean and safe manner in the port area. We supervise and control traffic planning, traffic management and safety inspection

the port authority also develops, manages and develops ports in a sustainable manner. In the management of the port area, we strictly abide by the landlord principle in the development and lease of land, and private enterprises operate facilities and wharves. Our work is to build and manage the infrastructure of the port, ensure the smooth passage of ships, and enable tenants to conduct business smoothly with the mainland trade zone

we are part of a large supply chain and hope to be a strong link in it. Maritime logistics requires us to coordinate with many land and sea partners, which means that we need data in the 21st century

construction and operation of smart ports

in order to meet the current and future development needs, we have embarked on a digital journey and become what many people call the world's most intelligent port

for me, a smart port not only means applying new technologies to make it safer, more efficient and more sustainable, but also includes future planning, making strategic choices, ensuring future business survival, and coping with changes in climate, politics, technology, industry and cargo flow

due to these rapid changes and the challenges of physical and environmental space, the work of the Rotterdam Port Authority has become more and more complex, and it needs to rely on data to make correct decisions

we have started the journey of digitalization and upgraded the tools for collecting and processing data from the port area, thus laying a more solid foundation for data-based decision-making

we hope to integrate many existing applications through a single platform, that is, sensors collect data, such as weather, water, environment, infrastructure, etc. This new solution requires a secure, reliable, standardized and robust IOT ecosystem

the first goal of the IOT platform is to digitize many aspects and impacts of ships entering and leaving the port, so as to improve traffic planning and management. With all the data in a single ecosystem, the development of decision support systems becomes much easier

to achieve this and collect the required data, we must connect the physical ports to the digital world. We have installed sensors at important locations in the port to obtain and transmit real-time data on water and weather conditions, including tidal height, tidal current, salinity, visibility, wind speed and direction

all these key data help us to plan and guide ships into the port and predict the possible future situation, so it must be accurate, up-to-date and fine-grained. We need to calculate all the data in advance, so as to set a time for the ship to enter the port, and provide suggestions on the port services required, such as tugs and mooring lines, so that they can pass and berth safely. Optimizing route planning can improve fuel efficiency, save money, reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality

a good example is the design of tidal windows for ships in deep water. Due to the huge difference between rising tide and falling tide in Rotterdam port, some larger ships can only enter the port at high tide to ensure the safety of the abundant water depth under the keel. The tidal window of our port can be as small as 30 minutes a day. Providing wrong plans or figures will lead to the ship grounding. This can not be solved with a simple sorry, because once a 400 meter long, 70 meter wide cargo ship carrying various goods is grounded, the consequences can be disastrous

intelligent routing and robust IOT platform

we use powerful high-precision sensors to collect water and weather data. Because these devices are based on the older technical standards when IOT did not appear, they have high accuracy but lack some key functions used in IOT ecosystem. The security and reliability need the functional guarantee of remote device management, authorization and encryption. This is why we chose not to connect the sensors directly to the interconnect, but to set up a secure router between the two. This is why the network layer of our data acquisition and analysis platform must be as solid as a rock

speaking of network security, Cisco is the first in the world. In a security focused RFP we made, IBM and Cisco ranked first. Cisco not only provides powerful security functions, but also its 809 and 829 industrial routers can withstand the weather conditions and temperature changes in the port of Rotterdam

our Cisco routers can also run edge applications, which can optimize the data collected by sensors before integrating the data into the central system. These programs are quite complex. A few years ago, a dedicated internal server was needed to process them, but now they can run on the router, which is not only efficient, but also reduced the cost

Cisco kinetic IOT platform is located on this router network, allowing us to fully control the connected devices and data flow. Kinetic is a centralized gateway that allows us to manage sensors, routers, and data flows into and out of the IBM IOT platform. It automatically connects our routers to the correct upstream environment, and there is no need to set up and protect these routers on site, because they are pre configured. Using pre licensed devices seems like we have given up control, but the fact is just the opposite

if the router is not pre configured and authorized by Cisco, you can't even connect to it. For a site like ours, where many equipment are scattered in a 126 square kilometer area, this brings huge advantages

security management IOT

another advantage is that kinetic is a management service. We connect 809 and 829 routers to the network, and leave the rest to Cisco and other partners, such as axians. We no longer need to worry about the latest patches, upgrades and features. With IOT safety fully controlled against tooth damage, we can focus on other intelligent applications and fully think about the future, innovation and creation

the Cisco service team works closely with us to carefully design solutions and integrate them into our ecosystem. We are the first organization to implement Cisco kinetic in a key industrial application. The rules we have formulated have been integrated into the products they now provide, providing solutions for enterprises around the world

I think the platforms used by other kinetic users today probably have a bit of Rotterdam flavor. It is the so-called technological innovation that benefits everyone

green technology and autonomous ships

speaking of ships, we are at the forefront of the maritime transport revolution. I am talking about more environmentally friendly and autonomous ships

it is no secret that heavy industry is going green. Maritime transport can not meet the relevant national and international standards. The IMO agenda is all about initiatives to make ships and ports more environmentally friendly, including the adoption of autonomous ships in the near future. This kind of ship has passed the prototype stage, and more good news will come out in the next few years. This development is closely related to technological innovations to reduce fuel consumption, such as the use of wind and solar energy to obtain energy for navigation. I also believe that autonomous ships will be more environmentally friendly, and help us to implement the goals of raw materials + interconnection, + new technology, + green environmental protection action area to reduce emissions in Rotterdam port

it is a natural continuation of advanced robot technology and automation technology, and it has participated in many industries from agriculture, warehouse, container terminal and even public transport. The common incentive factor is to improve safety and efficiency in application. We have many such examples in Rotterdam port area, where enterprises have truly realized automation, thus increasing sustainable value

the Rotterdam Port Authority will be ready to berth autonomous vessels by 2030. This means that all objects, traffic, conditions, policies and transactions that affect the safe berths and passages of ships will be fully digitized and connected with the real environment in the virtual data system of time and space

Cisco is an important part of this blueprint. Kinetic has helped us build a standardized plug and play IOT ecosystem instead of building a new infrastructure. In the future, we only need to add and replace sensors and routers to adapt to better equipment, new technologies and new needs, and always adopt the highest security standards

heading for the future

finally, managing a port is like steering a ship. You need to see what's ahead and plan for it. You should know the storm ahead of time and choose another route calmly, because you have enough time. Today's calm sea and clear sky do not mean tomorrow's full speed forward

positioning Rotterdam as the world's most intelligent port means standing at the forefront of emerging technologies. Advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, blockchain trading and ultra accurate data have revolutionized our business methods today, but we still have to look forward to the next 10, 20, 50 or even 100 years. We need to consider