In Summary
- The innovation offered a digital concept designed for Port of Durban on South Africa’s coast
- The technology enables real-time insight of the port
- T-Systems SA has received two SAP Partner Awards including the MD’s Award
A South African port innovation has bagged an international award for its disruptive partnership with South Africa’s Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA).
T-Systems, a subsidiary of German Deutsche Telekom, picked up second place in the ‘Digital Trailblazer’ category at the 2017 SAP HANA Innovation Awards.
The South African port innovation presented a digital concept designed for Port of Durban on South Africa’s coast, the fourth largest container terminal in the Southern Hemisphere.
The award-winning entry demonstrated how T-Systems, through a proof of concept, activated exciting opportunities for Durban to become a truly digital port – combining lightning-fast mobile broadband, with connected aerial and aquatic drones, connected video cameras, and advanced data modelling using SAP HANA as the connected platform.
Commenting on the capabilities of the digital concept, Gert Schoonbee, MD of T-Systems SA said that a combination of technologies made the innovation a success.
“Numerous technologies were combined, creating a tailor-made solution that dramatically enhances the operations at South Africa’s busiest port. We thank our partners who worked with us on this and our client, TNPA, for entrusting us with the responsibility of bringing innovation to their port,” he says.
Already, T-Systems SA has received two SAP Partner Awards including the MD’s Award for its role in transforming clients’ businesses and accelerating innovation in Africa.
Mr Schoonbee said that the awards are not only fulfilling but also recognise the incredible work of dedication and unique approach to Digital Transformation.”
TNPA’s Chief Information Officer said that the technology had helped enhance seamless activity at the Port of Durban.
“We are able to be much smarter with capacity planning, giving everyone the same information, and allowing us to predict and create alerts whenever there are any disruptions in the value chain.”
The technology enables real-time insight of the port enabling the port management to have a crystal-clear view of the port’s operations at any moment. They can dynamically reallocate operational resources throughout the course of the day, and continue to refine and automate more aspects of the port.