Focus Area: Smart Shipping
Overview
Ships often share their connectivity bandwidth across various functions and users, making it difficult to allocate sufficient bandwidth to mission-critical operations. This challenge becomes particularly pressing during disruptions when bandwidth speed is slow and low. How can we ensure critical data is prioritized and managed effectively under these conditions?
Importance
- Operational inefficiencies arise when navigation and real-time monitoring systems suffer due to unreliable connectivity.
- Prioritizing mission-critical data is essential for maintaining safe and efficient maritime operations.
Market Potential
- Inmarsat reports approximately 100 speed-related connectivity issues daily.
- Not applicable to harborcrafts relying on 4G routers.
Current Efforts
- Tools like ManageEngine provide visibility into bandwidth utilization by applications and allow users to prioritize critical functions.
Solution Criteria
- Must identify and prioritize business-critical functions based on Internet speed.
- Should function effectively under low bandwidth conditions, such as using edge computing.
- Needs to enable network separation to ensure critical data transmission.
- Should include data drop boxes for ships to send and receive critical information efficiently.
Potential Solutions
- Gatekeeping Hardware/Software: Integrated into existing hardware to prioritize critical data based on available bandwidth.
- Edge Computing: Solutions that function with low bandwidth to manage and process data locally.
- Network Separation: Segregating networks to ensure uninterrupted data flow for critical operations.
- Data Drop Boxes: Secure data repositories for ships to batch and transmit critical data during low connectivity periods.
These measures will help secure critical business data, ensuring operational efficiency and safety in maritime activities, even when connectivity is compromised.