Hackathon winner solves ETA irregularities

Rombit’s Expected Time of Arrival (ETA) optimisation tool was described by Erwin Verstraelen, chief digital and innovation officer at Antwerp Port Authority, as a tool that could make “a concrete contribution to a futureproof port”.

Antwerp Port Authority has said it will work with the winning team, also from Antwerp, from this year’s chainPORT Hackathon event to develop the tool.

The Port Authority commented that the team’s visualisation was impressive and that while many have tried to tackle ETA inaccuracies in the past, Rombit approached the problem in a unique way.

Belgium newspaper De Tijd included Rombit chief executive and founder Jorik Rombouts on its recent list of 50 Flemish innovators to watch.

Dual locations

Held from October 11 to 13 for the first time simultaneously in the Port of Antwerp and the Port of Los Angeles, the chainPORT Hackathon saw participants from across the world work on port challenges both global and local. In Los Angeles, the champion team was Patent Pending.

Issues tackled at the event included mobility, security, sustainability and data-sharing between world ports.

Commenting on the Port of Antwerp event, Mr Verstraelen said: “We want to be prepared for the future, with a port where smart technologies are deployed so that operations at sea and on land can be carried [out] in a smarter, smoother and more-efficient manner.

“We are continuously working towards that goal ourselves, but also call on partners as much as possible to capitalise on their insight and knowhow.

“This hackathon, which was open to anyone who wanted to think along with us, is a concrete case in point.”

Ports from across the world are partners of the chainPORT Hackathon, including the Port of Singapore, the Port of Hamburg and the Port of Montreal.