The Port of Long Beach has announced that Amazon Web Services, Inc., will be used to power the Port's Supply Chain Information Highway, a new digital infrastructure project created to aggregate data for companies across industries and sectors to track cargo in real time from origin to destination.

The port said in a statement that its Supply Chain Information Highway aspires to maximize the visibility and efficiency of cargo movement at the Port and throughout the supply chain.

The new system will also allow supply chain stakeholders to obtain actionable insights to help with planning, scheduling, and improving their systems. Registered users will access the data for free.

Port of Long Beach noted that the solution is in the process of being finalized.

"The Supply Chain Information Highway is transformative, with a goal of enabling users to make scheduling, planning, and payment decisions prior to cargo arrival, reducing delays during each handoff on the way to customers," said Mario Cordero, executive director, Port of Long Beach. "We're very excited to collaborate with AWS, one of the most innovative companies in the world, to supercharge this endeavor," Cordero added.

Steven Neal, Long Beach Harbor Commission president, noted that the difference between this data solution and others that are used to track cargo is that there was a collaboration with stakeholders before the port started developing the new system.

"Our business partners told us they wanted access to a platform that securely collected, curated, and published cargo information," Neal said. "We're pleased now to be working with technology leader AWS to bring us that much closer to making this a reality."

Port of Long Beach noted that the flexibility was requested by industry partners the Port engaged during an extensive outreach process and ensures the data solution can inform stakeholders at every level of the supply chain and is accessible to Fortune 500 beneficial cargo owners and small businesses alike.

"Global supply chain issues have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, even as conditions improve from unprecedented challenges we've faced over the last couple of years," said Kim Majerus, vice president, U.S. Education, State, and Local Government, AWS.

"However, the Port of Long Beach has been a leader in listening to its customers, evaluating where investments should be made to improve operations and leveraging best-in-class technology to develop resources and tools for supply chain leaders to deliver their cargo faster and more efficiently," Majerus added, further saying that AWS applauds the Port for developing this Supply Chain Information Highway.

St. Louis-based technology firm UNCOMN is working with the Port to develop the Supply Chain Information Highway software. UNCOMN is partnered with AWS, which will provide the cloud computing infrastructure and services for the Supply Chain Information Highway to function, storing the information in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), a solution that offers industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance.