Although ‘big data’ is still a relatively new term within the port and terminal industry, US-based business magazine Forbes reported that 87% of enterprises believed that big data would redefine the competitive landscape in the next three years, with as many as 89% believing that the companies who were not actively using it risked losing market share.
Despite still being in its infancy, big data analytics is a tool that is being used across industries and has become the highest priority in areas such as aviation (61%) and manufacturing (42%).
According to African Ports Evolution, it is clear that experts agree on the importance of big data for exploiting business potential, however it is not clear how important it is for success.
Avalon Consulting Analytics and Data Science VP Dr Wayne Applebaum explains that the success of using big data depends on the importance of a certain solution to a company.
In the port arena, for example, capturing data may have the most applications for improving the efficiency of port equipment, terminal operations and for boosting the overall logistics process.
