Commissioner Carl W. Bentzel To Convene Maritime Transportation Data Initiative (MTDI) Summit June 1st, 2022

May 27, 2022 – UPDATED: FMC Data Summit to be Held in Virtual Session Only

Commissioner Carl Bentzel will host the Maritime Transportation Data Initiative Summit at the Federal Maritime Commission headquarters on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, from 10 am to 2 pm.

The summit is the culmination of 18 industry stakeholder meetings held weekly from November 2021 through April 2022.

The summit will begin with a plenary session from 10:00 am to 11:00 am (Eastern) that will be followed by breakout sessions where groups will be asked to comment on and refine the read-ahead draft provided by Commissioner Bentzel and FMC staff.

The goal of the MTDI is to streamline how industry communicates and shares data to make cargo movement more efficient. Key to achieving this objective is harmonizing definitions, standardizing data reporting,  and timeliness in sharing data and making recommendations on how our data supply chain can be more efficient.

Participants have been provided draft materials based on the feedback from the weekly meetings.  The Plenary Session can be viewed by the public on the FMC YouTube channel.

“I look forward to welcoming the weekly meeting participants to the Commission next month where we will finish the work we started in December. Industry committed to this initiative and industry recognizes there are issues to be addressed and an opportunity to make improvements in data and information sharing. This effort puts us on a path forward and towards collaborative solutions. I have faith we will be successful in uniting around a set of data transmission standards.”

At the end of the breakout sessions, there will be a readout of the daily work and FMC will integrate comments into a report from which the Commissioner will draft recommendations.  Commissioner Bentzel will be presenting these recommendations at the July 13th Commission Meeting.

“This has been and will continue to be, a completely open process.  Every meeting has been recorded and is available on the FMC YouTube channel,” said Commissioner Bentzel.  “We still have a lot of work to do, but I am confident in that we have the key people with the right expertise committed to this project and its success.  We are well on our way to a productive summit and outcome.”

All the weekly participants have been invited. Most will be participating in person.  There will be a virtual component for those who cannot make the trip to Washington, DC.

Carl W. Bentzel is a Commissioner with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission. The thoughts and comments expressed here are his own and do not necessarily represent the position of the Commission.