Maritime Informatics

Shipping is the world’s oldest sharing economy and is conducted in a self-organizing manner. Shipping is capital, energy, and information intensive, and with the growing impact of digitalization and climate change, there is a need to rethink the management and operations of this critical global industry - assisted in no small way by maritime informatics. Building upon the recently published inaugural book Maritime Informatics by Springer, this book will address some of the most recent practical developments and experiences, particularly from a global perspective. The focus of the book is to address contemporary movements to tackle global concerns and to complement Maritime Informatics.

In the last 25 years, information systems have had a disruptive effect on society and business. Up until recently though, the majority of passengers and goods were transported by sea in many ways similar to the way they were at the turn of the previous century. Gradually, advanced information technologies are being introduced, in an attempt to make shipping safer, greener, more efficient, and transparent. The emerging field of Maritime Informatics studies the application of information technology and information systems to maritime transportation. Maritime Informatics can be considered as both a field of study and domain of application. As an application domain, it is the outlet of innovations originating from data science and artificial intelligence; as a field of study, it is positioned between computer science and marine engineering. This new field’s complexity lies within this duality because it is faced with disciplinary barriers yet demands a systemic, transdisciplinary approach. At present, there is a growing body of knowledge that remains undocumented in a single source or textbook designed to assist students and practitioners. This highly useful textbook/reference starts by introducing required knowledge, algorithmic approaches, and technical details, before presenting real-world applications. The aim is to present interested audiences with an overview of the main technological innovations having a disruptive effect on the maritime industry, as well as to discuss principal ideas, methods of operation and applications, and future developments. The material in this unique volume provides requisite core knowledge for undergraduate or postgraduate students, employing an analytical approach with numerous real-world examples and case studies.

This first book on Maritime Informatics describes the potential for Maritime Informatics to enhance the shipping industry. It examines how decision making in the industry can be improved by digital technology, and introduces the technology required to make Maritime Informatics a distinct and valuable discipline. Based on participating in EU funded research over the last six years to improve the shipping industry, the editors stipulate that there is a need for the new discipline of Maritime Informatics, which studies the application of information systems to increasing the efficiency, safety, and ecological sustainability of the world’s shipping industry. This book examines competition and collaboration between shipping companies, and also companies who serve shipping needs, such as ports and terminals. Practical examples from leading experts give the reader real world examples for better understanding.

"This book provides relevant theoretical frameworks and empirical research findings in the area hydroinformatics to assist professionals to improve their understanding of the development and use of decision support tools to support decision making and integrated water management at different organizational levels and domains"--Provided by publisher.

Our culture is obsessed with design. Sometimes designers can fuse utility and fantasy to make the mundane appear fresh—a cosmetic repackaging of the same old thing. Because of this, medicine—grounded in the unforgiving realities of the scientific method and peer review, and of flesh, blood, and pain—can sometimes confuse “design” with mere “prettifying.” Design solves real problems, however. This collection of papers underwrites the importance of design for the MMVR community, within three different environments: in vivo, in vitro and in silico. in vivo: we design machines to explore our living bodies. Imaging devices, robots, and sensors move constantly inward, operating within smaller dimensions: system, organ, cell, DNA. in vitro: Using test tubes and Petri dishes, we isolate in vivo to better manipulate and measure biological conditions and reactions. in silico: We step out of the controlled in vitro environment and into a virtual reality. The silica mini-worlds of test tubes and Petri dishes are translated into mini-worlds contained within silicon chips. The future of medicine remains within all three environments: in vivo, in vitro, and in silico. Design is what makes these pieces fit together—the biological, the informational, the physical/material—into something new and more useful.

Container Terminals (CT) operate as central nodes in worldwide hub-and-spoke networks and link ocean-going vessels with smaller feeder vessels as well as with inbound and outbound hinterland transportation systems using road, rail, or inland waterways. The volume of transcontinental container flows has gained appreciably over the last five decades -- throughput figures of CT reached new records, frequently with double-digit annual growth rates. Stimulated by throughput requirements and stronger competition between terminals settled in the same region or serving a similar hinterland, respectively, cost efficiency and throughput capabilities become more and more important. Nowadays, both terminal capacity and costs have to be regarded as key indicators for CT competitiveness. In respect of this steady growth, this handbook focuses on planning activities being aimed at “order of magnitude improvements” in terminal performance and economic viability. On the one hand the book is intended to provide readership with technological and organizational CT basics for strategic planning. On the other hand this book offers methodical assistance for fundamental dimensioning of CT in terms of 'technique', 'organization' or 'man'. The former primarily considers comprehensive information about container handling technologies representing the state of the art for present terminal operations, while the latter refers to methodological support comprising in particular quantitative solutions and modeling techniques for strategic terminal decisions as well as straightforward design guidelines. The handbook includes an introductory contribution which gives an overview of strategic planning problems at CT and introduces the contributions of the volume with regard to their relationship in this field. Moreover, each paper contains a section or paragraph that describes the impact of findings investigated by the author(s) for problem-solving in long-term planning of CT (as an application domain). The handbook intends to provide solutions and insights that are valuable for both practitioners in industry who need effective planning approaches to overcome problems and weaknesses in terminal design/development and researchers who would like to inform themselves about the state of the art in methodology of strategic terminal planning or be inspired by new ideas. That is to say, the handbook is addressed to terminal planners in practice as well as to students of maritime courses of study and (application oriented) researchers in the maritime field.

This book introduces readers to some of the most significant advances in core computer science-based technologies. At the dawn of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the field of computer science-based technologies is growing continuously and rapidly, and is developing both in itself and in terms of its applications in many other disciplines. Written by leading experts and consisting of 18 chapters, the book is divided into seven parts: (1) Computer Science-based Technologies in Education, (2) Computer Science-based Technologies in Risk Assessment and Readiness, (3) Computer Science-based Technologies in IoT, Blockchains and Electronic Money, (4) Computer Science-based Technologies in Mobile Computing, (5) Computer Science-based Technologies in Scheduling and Transportation, (6) Computer Science-based Technologies in Medicine and Biology, and (7) Theoretical Advances in Computer Science with Significant Potential Applications in Technology. Featuring an extensive list of bibliographic references at the end of each chapter to help readers probe further into the application areas of interest to them, this book is intended for professors, researchers, scientists, engineers and students in computer science-related disciplines. It is also useful for those from other disciplines wanting to become well versed in some of the latest computer science-based technologies.