Kyndryl Helps Barcelona Port Enhance Sustainability
Kyndryl Holdings, Inc
The Port of Barcelona has entrusted Kyndryl, a global leader in IT infrastructure services, to revamp and modernise its Port Community System (PCS), known as PORTIC.
The outcome is that one of the primary logistics centres in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean now employs a cutting-edge technology platform that operates on a high-capacity and high-processing-speed mainframe, expertly managed by Kyndryl.
The Port Community System is a crucial technological platform that manages all critical operations of the ports. These operations include managing vessel calls, services like water, electricity, and fuel supply, waste collection, sheds, cranes, carriers, terminals, and dangerous goods.
These platforms efficiently automate the information exchange processes between the various members of the port community, enabling secure communication and connectivity and processing over 400 email messages per minute.
To cope with the growing maritime traffic and the pressing demand for innovation and sustainability, the Port of Barcelona took up an ambitious technological overhaul. This project aimed to modernise its applications, improving their efficiency and flexibility, while simultaneously enhancing environmental sustainability and reinforcing cybersecurity and disaster recovery measures. Kyndryl took charge of leading and executing the project.
To renew their hardware technology, the Port of Barcelona and Kyndryl opted for Enterprise Linux Server technology, specifically LinuxOne. It features the fastest processor available on the market and is highly cost- and energy-efficient, resulting in significant cost savings and the elimination of over 175 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions for the next five years. This reduction in emissions is equivalent to the emissions generated by a car travelling 181,335 km.
To modernise their software technology, the Port of Barcelona and Kyndryl opted for the open-source Red Hat Openshift Container Platform (OCP), which supports a wide range of programming languages and services such as network frameworks, databases, connectors, mobiles and external back-ends. The primary benefit of this choice is the acceleration of application delivery, ensuring seamless communication between various organisations involved in port traffic logistics, including shipping companies, terminals, consignees, and authorities.
The migration to the new high-security data processing centre has been completed, including the installation of a second backup data centre to increase resilience and ensure business continuity in case of unforeseen events. In case of service unavailability, the data centre guarantees a start-up in less than two hours without data loss and features advanced management, monitoring, and cybersecurity services. This reduces the risk of network security threats.
David Serral, CIO of the Port of Barcelona, stated, "Our collaboration with Kyndryl is proving key to underpinning the positioning and competitiveness of the Port of Barcelona. The technological and business knowledge of their teams has meant that, today, PORTIC is running on a more agile and modern infrastructure, with much higher performance and capacity, and with maximum guarantees in scalability and cybersecurity."
David Soto, president of Kyndryl Spain and Portugal, highlighted, "We are delighted to be helping the Port of Barcelona in its transformation process. The capabilities of our consultants and their experience in mission-critical environments and application modernisation have enabled the port entity to have a modern IT platform that will allow it to take advantage of IT innovations in improving its operations to be increasingly efficient and sustainable in the important logistical role it plays in our society."
Javier Gallardo, general manager of PORTIC, explained, "This modernisation of our Port Community System is included in the IV Strategic Plan 2021-2025 of the Port of Barcelona and responds to the demands of the Port Community to have a platform with more capacity and more value-added services. In the coming months, PORTIC Barcelona will incorporate new professionals to its staff, providing more resources to take advantage of the new technical capabilities offered by the platform and helping to maintain the Port of Barcelona as one of the most innovative ports in Europe in automation and digitisation of document processes."
Source: Kyndryl
