Supply Chain and Logistics

This interesting viewpoint comes via Huffington Post.  Not too much substance, but there is a germ of truth.  Firms are so hung up on security and privacy that they refuse to share information that would make supply chains work much better for all.  It’s possible they could be engines for growth. This has been true for 20 years now, and computer scientists have done little to facilitate sharing of data easily. The spectre of security and privacy violations and the media attention on companies when there’s a breakmeans no one will take a chance

It’s the Supply Chain Process, Stupid | Ho-Hyung Lee.

There is an opportunity for governments to require data sharing. We are starting to see it in trucking, where the driver incident data is coming online. Rails have been providing STB waybill data to the US government for years, though it is often incomplete and inaccurate and there’s no enforcement of accuracy.  And private firms like PIERS have been acquiring some data, like ocean container moves,  and making it available for a price.  But to have generally available and public movement data would greatly improve the joint planning of supply chain activity across chains.  That’s what is needed.  Sort of Google Maps traffic with details.

It’s politically so unlikely in the current US environment that this call is whistling in the wind.   The US is all about security, privacy, and individual or corporate control of any asset.