Port of Brisbane taps Fast50 firm TechConnect for sustainability platform

Gold Coast-based data and cloud solutions provider TechConnect has created and deployed a sustainability platform for the Port of Brisbane (the Port).

As Australia's third largest port covering 1,800-hectares, the Port is used by over 2,600 ships and handles more than 28 million tonnes of cargo each year.

TechConnect, which landed in twenty-fifth place in the 2022 CRN Fast50, was engaged by the Port that year to create a data and analytics dashboard that could provide insights into its environmental impact.

The platform runs on Amazon Web Services, utilising AWS Lambda, Amazon Dynamo DB, Amazon S3, Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose, AWS DataSync and AWS IoT Core.

It has enabled the Port to ingest, centralise, clean, transform and visualise previously dispersedly held sustainability data related to solar, power, water, vehicles and other assets.

The platform stores data related to sustainability and organisational artifacts, while its reporting functionality allows the Port to visually showcase its sustainability portfolio and track progress toward targets.

The Port credits the platform with aligning its sustainability and asset management strategies with commitments required by its $500 million sustainability-linked, banking loan facility.

“TechConnect collaborated closely with the Port of Brisbane to help them deploy globally leading technology to meet their sustainability goals by clearly and precisely understanding the impact of their assets on the environment, and then take action to make improvements in line with those sustainability goals,” said Mike Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer at TechConnect.

“The Port can now utilise their data from a range of assets, making it easier for them to make fast, informed decisions that will drive business objectives and ensure that the Port’s environmental and sustainability initiatives are met, including reducing carbon emissions."

"The Port can gain actionable, dashboard-based insights into the environmental impact of a wide range of assets and information across its facilities – including waste, water, and solar - some of it generated by IoT-enabled devices. This is a first for the wider infrastructure industry and demonstrates the Port’s industry leadership.”

The platform has helped the Port ensure actionable transparency around management of energy, air quality, waste and water quality.

This includes providing information about water leaks and water consumption, measured by IoT devices attached to the 260 water metres spread across the Port's facilities.

“With the solution developed by TechConnect, we can now have detailed, actionable insight into a range of assets across our facilities, and understand their impact on the environment, and take action based on that," said Port of Brisbane's CEO Neil Stephens.

"For example, the solution is already providing us with important information about the profile of potential water leaks across the entire 1800-hectare site. This is invaluable information because our teams can’t be everywhere at once to monitor this type of activity.”