Cisco, the USA-based hi-tech company, has partnered with some of the largest Indian seaports and inland waterways to usher in an era of transformation by digitizing their processes.
The ports and waterways authorities that have come on board in this digitation drive include Visakhapatnam, Deendayal, Kolkata Port, and IWAI (Inland Waterways Authority of India).
Cisco has been working on 14 projects across seven ports in India, of which three projects have been completed, and 11 are in various stages.
Maritime Vision 2030
The partnership has been rolled out to enable India’s Maritime Vision 2030, which focuses on boosting the productivity and performance of the nation’s maritime sector over the next ten years.
The Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, unveiled the Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 in March 2021 while inaugurating the three-day Maritime India Summit 2021, which had participants from 24 countries all over the world. A 10-year blueprint, the Maritime India Vision-2030, is drawn out to overhaul the Indian maritime sector. With a plan for Rs 3 lakh crore investment in the port project, the plan envisages generating employment for 20 lakh people.
“Shipping and Waterway, it also promises to unlock annual revenue potential for major ports worth over Rs 20,000 crore,” according to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterway
Digitization – Four Key Focus Areas
Digitizing Indian ports and waterways can help reduce overall logistics cost while enhancing its competitiveness to transform it into a global manufacturing powerhouse
Cisco’s initiative to digitize ports and waterways is centered on four focus areas.
1.Improve turnaround time: Cutting down on turnaround is the first primary positive outcome. This will directly impact the capacity and revenue of the ports and inland water authorities.
2.Prevent the loss of revenue and equipment: Digitization enables real-time equipment monitoring, which helps in preventing loss of revenue and equipment failure.
3.Improve efficiency: Cisco also plans to help improve efficiency through energy management and analytics.
4.Employee safety and communications: Cisco is also increasing employee safety and communications through a multi-channel communication and collaborative platform.
Some of India’s largest ports are positioned to improve turnover times, prevent loss of revenue and equipment failures through real-time monitoring, increase efficiency through energy management, logistics, and improving employee communications and safety.
Dave West, president for the Asia Pacific, Japan, and Greater China (APJC) at Cisco, said, “India has a goal to be a manufacturing powerhouse. To get there, they need efficient logistics.
Cisco’s strategic partnership will help India move closer to becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2025. Even though the COVID crisis has affected the economy of the land, it has spurred a rethinking of what the future is likely to be. Dave West added, “Cisco will continue to play our part to help our customers leapfrog in this region.”
Source: www.itln.in, www.economictimes.indiatimes.com