The Netherlands’ world-class Port and Maritime sector serves as a major driver for the Dutch economy. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used in a huge array of technological applications within this sector. On the one hand, the global Port and Maritime market is expected to present new opportunities for international collaboration. On the other, it will also be fiercely competitive. That’s why it is important for the sector to develop an autonomous ability to implement key AI technology and expand the required knowledge and expertise.

The Dutch Artificial Intelligence Coalition (NL AIC) has established a dedicated working group for the Port and Maritime sector. Important players like the Municipality of Rotterdam, InnovationQuarter, Netherlands Maritime Technology (NMT), Delft University of Technology, the Port of Rotterdam Authority and SmartPort have joined NL AIC in order to develop a coordinated vision and strategy for common challenges and jointly support promising propositions. NL AIC works to foster the required knowledge, expertise and results on the basis of five themes – also referred to as building blocks – that play a key role in AI’s innovative impact within different economic and social segments:

• Data Exchange
• Human Capital
• Social Acceptance and Inclusion
• Research and Innovation
• Start-ups and Scale-ups

Next five years

Over the next five years, the Port and Maritime working group plans to give major impetus to the development of datafication and AI in the Port and Maritime domain.
The working group has now made a start with realising this ambition. On Monday 28 September 2020, NL AIC members and other interested parties can attend the group’s online kick-off, which will be held from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. During this event, the working group will explain which AI trends it plans to stimulate, in which parts of the maritime sector, and which role participants can play in this context.