December 22, 2021 — The Maritime and Port Bureau (MPB) of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) held the award ceremony for the first Maritime and Port Big Data Creative Application Competition today (Nov. 30), granting up to $280,000 in prizes to encourage participants. The competition focused on issues such as carbon emissions, the global port congestion crisis, manpower supply and demand in the shipping industry, and national ship fleet upgrade policy, with diverse, fascinating entries that showcased innovative proposals and applications of big data in Taiwan’s maritime industry.

The MPB stated that seeing the arrival of the digital convergence era, the MPB has established the Maritime and Port Development Database Public Information Platform to collect large amounts of varied maritime port-related information and data. The event was held in the hope of encouraging enterprises and university students who specialize in domestic shipping, transportation, big data, information, international trade, statistics, and other fields to try to analyze and apply big data in the maritime industry through a multi-faceted approach. The resulting novel ideas and plans can derive practical value from the wealth of massive datasets to truly instill creativity and yield real-life applications for Taiwan’s maritime industry. Bao Jya-yuan, Secretary-General of the ROC National Association of Shipping Agencies and a member of the judging panel, said in his speech that the structured information compiled by the MPB is beneficial to many in the academia and the industry. Cathy Chin, Honorary Chairperson of the Taiwan International Logistics & Supply Chain Association and a member of the judging panel, also indicated that the Maritime and Port Development Database Public Information Platform is a treasure trove for the public to explore. Cheng Cheng-Hsiung, Chief Strategy Officer of Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, also thanked the MPB for providing this platform, which enables participants’ results to be referenced for policy-making.

The competition was divided into two sections: one for the general public and one for students, and attracted the enrollment of 41 teams in total. The top three received $80,000, $30,000, and $10,000 in prize money, respectively, and 4 other excellent entries received an honorable mention and $5,000 each.

The top three in the general group, Phekda, iCan, and Zhonggang Secretary, correspondingly submitted the entries: “Data-Enabled Harbor Management: A Study on the Advanced Application of Maritime and Port Data”, “Route Development in Taiwan’s Potential Import and Export Markets – Using the Example of the New Southbound Countries”, and “A Study on the Current Development of Harbor Traffic and Bulk in Cross-Strait Sea Transport”.

The top three in the student group, “Rock”, “Free Trade, No Problem”, and “Little South Sea Heroes”, correspondingly submitted the entries: “Solving the Carbon Emissions Problem with a Compilation System for Real-time Arrival Information”, “Analysis of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Free Trade Zones Using a Time Series Model”, and “Exploration of the Impact of Global Port Congestion on Taiwan’s Ocean Freight”.

The MPB stressed that it will continue to hold Maritime and Port Big Data Creative Application Competitions in the future and looks forward to the participation of more exceptional talents. The MPB wishes to cultivate maritime industry experts in Taiwan, and continues to infuse the field with new life and creativity.