Route 1700 app for truck drivers is IT / Digital Project of the Year

Route 1700, the app for truck drivers at the terminal of container handler DP World Antwerp, wins Data News’ ICT/Digital Project of the Year 2019 in the "Small Projects" category. In the app, whose name refers to "quay 1700", the entire flow at the terminal is digitized. The app, developed with The Reference, ensures smooth communication with truckers and dispatchers and guides them through their journey at the terminal.

Award for digital projects

With the competition, Data News wants to reward IT and digital projects that have been a success and that are both innovative in the use of technology and in the business approach. The competition is open to both the private and public sectors and to both large and small as well as medium-sized organizations. On Thursday, November 21, for the 27th time two winners were selected for the most interesting IT projects in the categories "Small Projects" and "Large Projects".

App for truckers

In the 'Small Projects' category, the jury chose Route 1700 from DP World Antwerp. DP World Antwerp is a container handler in the port of Antwerp and operates the Antwerp Gateway terminal at the Deurganck dock. Route 1700 is an app (both iOS and Android) that the company developed together with The Reference to enable truckers and dispatchers to communicate more efficiently. In the app - the ‘1700’ in Route 1700 also refers to quay 1700 - the entire flow at the container terminal is digitized. The app shows truckers the road to follow at the terminal and promotes efficiency for both drivers and terminal operators. In the app, data analytics are used in real time to help the trucker in the steps he has to go through at the terminal. The mandatory safety instructions are also pushed via the app, which again means administrative simplification and reduces the waiting time for the driver at the terminal. The app has now been launched for four months and has an increasing number of users. New functionalities will be launched in the coming months.

“With Route 1700, DP World continues to use a digital platform to offer additional innovative services in a sustainable manner, in consultation with the community. We are pleased with the recognition of our approach. By involving truckers and dispatchers from the start in the development and finding solutions together, the app tries to respond to the needs of the community, ”says Johan Van Wyngene, CIIO DP World Antwerp.

Michiel Van Damme, Program Manager at The Reference, agrees. "This award confirms the credo of The Reference "it's more than digital, it's your business." The app improves both the business processes and the customer experience of the end users, and offers support in the digital transformation of the terminal.”

In the Small Projects category, the project competed against three other nominees: Hillshades and Skyview from Informatie Vlaanderen, the Mobile app from TEC and Marketing automation for the museum pass from Publiq. The participants had to defend their case, after which the jury could ask questions. In the 'Large Projects', the LBLOD project of the Flemish Agency for Domestic Governance came out as the winner. With LBLOD - which stands for Local Decisions as Linked (Open) Data - the Flemish Agency for Domestic Governance, together with local authorities, created a new ecosystem for sharing data between governments and (private) re-users of this data. The CIO of the Year was also proclaimed during the event. Filip Michiels, CIO of TUI, succeeds Erwin Verstraelen (Port of Antwerp). In addition to this year's award, digitization and innovation in the port of Antwerp are clearly on the map.