UNCTAD highlights the importance of monitoring and tracking progress towards the achievement of relevant economic, social and environmental targets in the maritime transport. In a meeting held yesterday, the organization discussed about indicators which are recognized as critical for maritime business and its users, as well as for governments and policy makers.
The UNCTAD secretariat scheduled an ad hoc expert meeting on “Measuring Shipping Connectivity and Performance: The Need for Statistics and Data” bringing together experts from varied backgrounds to discuss the role of data in supporting performance-based approaches in maritime transport and explore ways in which existing data limitations can be effectively addressed to support improved and sustainable planning and management of maritime transport activity as well as promote evidence-based maritime transport policy making.
The following issues were considered:
- Identifying current data requirements in maritime transport
- Improving understanding of the complex statistical aspects of developing performance measures in maritime transport
- Exploring the challenges associated with organizing, integrating and analyzing data in maritime transport
- Sharing good practice and experiences in the use of data to measure performance including in terms of connectivity, access, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability
- Considering the potential for Big Data to generate critical maritime transport data
- Engaging with relevant data providers and considering areas of potential partnership and cooperation
