The Department for Transport (DfT) is aiming to extend the capabilities of its Deep Port data tool.
It has also floated a plan to build a Port Analysis Dashboard to support its efforts to provide resilience to the maritime sector.
The department has published a prior information notice on its plans, saying that it is at the stage of wanting to understand how update the 10-year old Deep Port tool, which brings together strands of data on the flow of goods and people through the UK’s main ports.
It said that Brexit, Covid-19, the risks of climate change and security have combined to increase Deep Port’s importance in policy making, and that it wants to combine the existing data with key port profiles and data on transport hubs, flood plains and types of goods. This could possibly involve developing a new tool as a substitute.
DfT said it is also looking to incorporate a secondary tool that would capture and provide real time data for a dashboard rather than as downloadable dataset.
It is allowing up to two years for the work but is keen to activate a new version of Deep Port much earlier, ideally by the end of this year.
Image: Felixstowe port from iStock, SciPhiTV
