A recent book chapter by Dimitrios Dalaklis, Nikitas Nikitakos, Dimitrios Papachristos, and Angelos Dalaklis considers the Opportunities and Challenges in Relation to Big Data Analytics for the Shipping Industry and Port Industries.
The so-called “Fourth (stage of the) Industrial Revolution,” also termed as “Industry 4.0” in the wider literature, is associated with cutting-edge technology applications like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data Analytics (BDA), Cloud Computing, and Internet of Things (IoT), which are already influencing the paradigm of operations within the shipping and port industries. Today, all computer systems on-board a ship or supporting facilities ashore, as well as the numerous information technology (IT) applications related to ship and port management activities are heavily reliant upon real-time data to effectively fulfill their allocated tasks. Truly vast quantities of data, commonly referred to as “Big Data” (BD), are created; the issue of how to effectively manage all the associated information is clearly standing out. Using software tools for extracting and processing the “right” information and deploying advanced algorithms to perform the relevant statistical analysis, becomes the obvious solution. This chapter, which follows a qualitative approach along with a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Challenges (SWOC) analysis matrix, is aiming to identify and briefly discuss the most relevant tools and techniques that are associated with BDA. It will also highlight the need for effective BD management, in order to fully exploit the opportunity of improving—or even optimizing—the conduct of maritime transport activities and port operations.