Information Infrastructure is Key to American Economic Competitiveness

Critical information delivered to supply chain actors via a national portal will improve port performance and increase American economic competitiveness, according to the Supply Chain Innovation Teams Federal Maritime Commissioner Rebecca Dye has led since last May.

Dye told the audience today at the Journal of Commerce’s Port Performance North American Conference held in Iselin, New Jersey that team members were encouraged to “step out of their silos” and look at the U.S. supply chain from a “systemic” perspective. The quickly arrived at consensus of the teams was that meaningful, specific information, as opposed to vast volumes of unfiltered data, will help American companies engaged in international trade gain a competitive advantage. Examples of high priority information that would benefit supply chain actors are container, chassis, and dray truck availability.

As a panelist on the “Port Efficiency—The Washington Perspective” session of the event, Dye announced that a “Phase Two” of the Supply Chain Innovation Initiative will be launched next year. This effort will focus on exports, and part of the undertaking of the three new teams will be to pursue options for building a robust conceptual model of a national portal for key supply chain information.

“The proposal for a national portal that provides a set of useful, actionable information has tremendous potential and it can serve as the foundation of a supply chain infrastructure system capable of serving the requirements of international commerce,” said Dye. “I am excited about the prospects for this proposal to develop into a great competitive advantage for the economic vitality of the United States. I am optimistic we can find a way to build a pilot.”

An Executive Summary of Commissioner Dye’s interim status report on the work of the Supply Chain Innovation Teams is posted on the Commission’s website.